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FROM HOI 'DONS BV<T 



E S S AY 



CHARACTEE AND INFLUENCE 



WASHINGTOI^r 



EEYOLUTIOX OF THE TNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



By M. GUIZOT. 



TEA X SLATED FROM THE FRENCH. 



SECOND EDITION, 



NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY JAMES MILLER 

(successor to C. S. FRANCIS Jk CO.), 
522 BROADWAY. 

1863. 



Kntoroa, flooorain- to Act of Consross, in the roar ono thoiis.iml 
ok'ht Im-.i.lroa ami forty, by James Mi-nrok & Co., in the Clerk'i 
otlloe of the Pistrict Court of the District of MHSsaoliusott-*. 



In B'x rii :>v,^d 
iirmy And Ntvvy Club 



TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 



The following Essay is a translation of the 
Introduction, by M. Guizot, to a French version 
of Sparks's Life of Washington, and of selected 
portions of Washington's Writings, which has 
recently appeared in Paris, in six octavo vol- 
umes. M. Guizot is well known, not only as 
the author of many valuable historical works, but 
as a practical statesman himself, and therefore 
peculiarly qualified to appreciate the character of 
Washington, and to estimate his claims to the 
gratitude of his country, and the admiration of 
mankind. The Essay can hardly fail to be read 
with interest by every countryman of the illus- 
trious man who forms its subject. It is a per- 
formance remarkable for the knowledge which it 
evinces of our own history, for its great political 
wisdom, its elevated moral tone, and its just dis- 



iv translator's preface. 

crimination in regard to the character of Wash- 
ington. Every American citizen must be highly- 
gratified to find his own veneration for the name 
of Washington confirmed by this unbiassed trib- 
ute from a foreigner so distinguished in literature 
and politics, as M. Guizot. Nothing has ever 
been written concerning him in Europe, so ac- 
curate, so just, and so profound as this ; and it 
will serve to justify and strengthen that admira- 
tion, which has been accorded to him in foreign 
countries, hardly less than in his own. 

George S. Hillard. 



ADVERTISEMENT 
OF THE FRENCH PUBLISHERS. 



No foreign event occurring at a distance ever 
awakened so lively a sympathy in France, as 
the Revolution of the United States of America. 
No great man who was a foreigner has ever, in 
this country, been the object of general admira- 
tion to such an extent as Washington. He has 
had the applause of both the court and the peo- 
ple, of the old regime and the new nation. Dur- 
ing his life, testimonials of respect were heaped 
upon him by Louis the Sixteenth; and, at his 
death, Napoleon directed a public mourning for 
him, and a funeral oration. =^ 

* " Bonaparte rendered unusual honors to the name of 
Washington, not long after the event of his death was made 
known in France. By what motives he was prompted, it is 
needless to inquire. At any rate, both the act itself and his 
manner of performing it are somewhat remarkable, when re- 
garded in connexion with his subsequent career. He was 
then First Consul. On the 9th of February, he issued the 
following order of the day to the army. " Washington is 
dead! This great man fought against tyranny; he estab 



Yl ADVERTISEMENT. 

It is now fort}' years since this great man 
has been reposing, to use his own expression, 
" in the mansions of rest," at INIount Vernon, 
by the side of his fathers. But his country 
has recently reared to him the noblest of monu- 
ments, in the publication of his Works, consist- 
ing of his Letters, Discourses, and Messages, 
comprising what was written and spoken by him 
in the midst of his active career, and forming 
indeed his lively image and the true history of 
liis life. 

These are, in truth, his Works. "Washington 
preserved with scrupulous care, either a first 
draft or an exact cop}' of every letter he wrote, 
whether as a public man or a private individual, 

lislied the liberty of his country. His memory will always 
be dear to the French people, as it ■will be to all free men of 
the two worlds ; and especially to French soldiers, who like 
him and the American soldiei"s, have combated for liberty 
and equality. The First Consul likewise ordered, that dur- 
ing ten days, black crape should be suspended from all the 
standards and flags throughout the Republic. On the same 
day a splendid ceremony took place in the Champ de Mars, 
and the trophies brought by the army from Egypt were dis- 
played with great pomp. Immediately after this cei-emony 
was over, a funeral oration, in honor of Washington (Eloge 
Funlhve de Wasliington) was pronounced by M. de Fontanes, 
in the Hotel des Invalides, then called the Temple of ^lars. 
The First Consul, and all the civil and military autliorities 
of the capital, were present." — Sparks's Life of Wasliington, 
pp. 531, 532, note. 



ADVERTISEMENT. VU 

and whether they related to his own concerns, 
the management and cuUure of his farms, or 
to the interests of the state. During the pe- 
riod from 1783 to 1787, in his retirement at 
Mount Vernon, he arranged the first part of this 
correspondence, containing among other things, 
whatever had been written by him during the 
war of independence ; and, at his death, he be- 
queathed all his papers, together with his estate 
at Mount Vernon, to his nephew, Bushrod 
Washington, who was for thirty years one of 
the justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
States. The entire collection, comprising the 
letters written by AVashington himself, and 
those addressed to him, filled more than two 
hundred folio volumes. 

The Congress of the United States has recent- 
ly purchased these precious papers, and caused 
them to be deposited in the national archives. 
An able editor, Mr. Sparks, already well known 
by his important historical labors, and especially 
by editing the " Diplomatic Correspondence of 
the United States during the War of Independ- 
ence," (printed at Boston in twelve octavo 
volumes), has examined these papers and made 
selections and extracts from them. The family 
of Washington, his surviving friends, and various 
intelligent and distinguished persons favored his 



VUl ADVERTISEMENT. 

efforts in executing this patriotic task. Mr. 
Sparks has not remained content with the collec- 
tion of materials, already so ample, which was 
in his possession ; he traveled over America 
and Europe, and the public and private col- 
lections of France and England were liberally- 
opened to him. He has sought out, and brought 
together from all quarters, the documents neces- 
sary to illustrate and complete this authentic 
biography of a great man, which is the history 
of the infant years of a great people ; and a work 
in twelve large octavo volumes, adorned with 
portraits, plates, and facsimiles, under the title 
of " The Writings of George Washington," has 
been the result of this labor, which has been 
performed in all its parts with scrupulous fidelity, 
patriotism, and a love of the subject. 

The work is divided into several parts. 

The First Volume contains a Life of Wash- 
ington, written by Mr. Sparks. 

The Second Volume, entitled Part First, con- 
tains the Official and Private Letters of Wash- 
ington, prior to the American Revolution, (from 
the 9th of March, 1754, to the 31st of May, 
1775). The official letters relate to the war of 
1754-175S, between France and England, for 
the possession of the territories lying west of 
the English colonies. 



ADVERTISEMENT. IX 

The Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and 
Eighth Volumes (being the Second Part) com- 
prise the Correspondence and the various papers 
relating to the American Revolution and the 
War of Independence, (from the 16th of June, 
1775, to the 23d of December, 1783). 

The Ninth Volume (being the Third Part) is 
composed of the Private Letters written by 
Washington from the end of 1783 to the spring 
of 1789, in the interval between his return to 
Mount Vernon, after the peace of Versailles, and 
his elevation to the Presidency of the United 
States, (from the 28th of December, 1783, to 
the 14th of April, 1789). 

The Tenth and Eleventh Volumes (being the 
Fourth Part) comprise the Official and Private 
Correspondence of Washington from his eleva- 
tion to the Presidency to the close of his life, 
(from the 5th of May, 1789, to the 12th of 
December, 1799). 

The Twelfth Volume (being the Fifth Part), 
contains the Documents and Messages addressed 
by Washington to Congress, as President of the 
United States, and also his Proclamations and 
Addresses to the American people in general, 
or to particular classes of citizens. 

Each volume is terminated by an Appendix, in 
which the Editor has collected a variety of his- 



X ADVERTISEMENT. 

torical documents of great interest, and, generally 
speaking, hitherto unpublished, which illustrate 
the principal events of the period, and the most 
important parts of the life and character of 
Washington. 

Finally, numerous and accurate Notes, scat- 
tered through the work, give all the information 
necessary for the complete understanding of the 
letters and incidents to which they relate. 

Viewed as a whole and in its details, in its 
literary execution and in its outward form, the 
edition is worthy of the great name to which it 
is consecrated. 

In 1S33, when the work had been just com- 
pleted, the American Editor, desirous that Wash- 
ington should be as well known in France as in 
his own country, applied to M. Guizot, request- 
ing him to make a selection, from the voluminous 
correspondence, of such portions as seemed most 
calculated to awaken an interest in the French 
public, and to superintend their publication in 
the French language. M. Guizot has made this 
selection ; upon the principle of taking, especi- 
ally. First, the letters concerning the relations of 
France and the United States at that period, and 
the distinguished part which our country acted 
in that great event ; Secondly, those which de- 
velope the political views of Washington in the 



ADVERTISEMENT. XI 

formation of the constitution and the organiza- 
tion of the government of the United States, — 
views full of valuable instruction ; Thirdly, those 
which exhibit in the clearest light the character, 
the turn of mind, and the manners of the great 
man from whom they proceeded. 

In order to accomplish fully the honorable task 
which he undertook, M. Guizot was desirous of 
presenting his own views of the character of 
Washington, and of his influence in the rev- 
olution which founded the United States of 
America ; and these are contained in the Intro- 
duction, which is prefixed to our edition. 

We have spared no pains to make its ex- 
ternal appearance worthy of the intrinsic value 
of its contents. We are indebted to the kind- 
ness of General Cass, the minister of the United 
States in France, for most useful assistance and 
information ; and he has afforded them with a 
kindness, at once so enlightened and so gener- 
ous, that we feel it our duty to make a public 
acknowledomeni of our obligations to him. 



CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 



WASHINGTON 



Two difficult and important duties are 
assigned to man, and may constitute his 
true glory ; to support misfortune and re- 
sign himself to it with firmness ; to believe 
in goodness and trust himself to it with 
unbroken confidence. 

There is a spectacle not less noble or 
less improving, than that of a virtuous man 
struggling with adversity; it is that of a 
virtuous man at the head of a good cause, 
and giving assurance of its triumph. 

If there were ever a just cause, and one 
which deserved success, it was that of the 
English colonies in their struggle to be- 
come the United States of America. In 
their case, open insurrection liad been pre- 



14 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

ceded by resistance. This resistance was 
founded upon historical right and upon 
facts, upon natural right and upon opinions. 

It is the honorable distinction of Eng- 
land to have given to her colonies, in their 
infancy, the seminal principle of their lib- 
erty. Almost all of them, either at the 
time of their being planted or shortly after, 
received charters which conferred upon the 
colonists the rights of the mother country. 
x\nd these charters were not a mere decep- 
tive form, a dead letter, for they either 
established or recognized those powerful 
institutions, which impelled the colonists to 
defend their liberties and to control power 
by dividiug it ; such as the laying of taxes 
by vote, the election of the principal public 
bodies, trial by jury, and the right to meet 
and deliberate npon a (fairs of general in- 
terest. 

Thus the history of these colonies is 
nothing else than the practical and sedulous 
development of the spirit of liberty, e^:- 
panding under the protecting influence of 
the laws and traditions of the country. 
Such, indeed, was the history of England 
itself. 



OP WASHINGTON. 15 

A Still more striking resemblance is pre- 
sented in the fact, that the colonies of 
America, at least the greater part of them 
and the most considerable among them, 
either were founded, or received their prin- 
cipal increase,, precisely at the period when 
England was preparing to sustain, or was 
already sustaining, those bold conflicts 
against the claims of absolute power, which 
were to confer upon her the honorable dis- 
tinction of giving to the world the first 
example of a great nation, free and well 
governed. 

From 1578 to 1704, under Elizabeth, 
James the First, Charles the First, the 
Long Parliament, Cromwell, Charles the 
Second, James the Second, William the 
Third, and Queen Anne, the charters of 
Yirginia, of Massachusetts, of Maryland, of 
Carolina, and of New York, were, one after 
another, recognized, contested, restrained, 
enlarged, lost, regained ; incessantly ex- 
posed to those struggles and those vicissi- 
tudes, which are the condition, indeed the 
very essence, of liberty ; for it is victory, 
and not peace, that free communities can 
lay claim to. 



16 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

At the same time with their legal rights, 
the colonists had also religious faith. It 
was not only as Englishmen, but as 
Christians, that they wished to be free ; 
and their faith was more dear to them than 
their charters. Indeed, these charters were, 
in their eyes, nothing more than a manifes- 
tation and an image, however imperfect, of 
the great law of God, the Gospel. Their 
rights would not have been lost, even had 
they been deprived of their charters. In 
their enthusiastic state of mind, supported 
by divine favor, they would have traced 
these rights to a source superior and inac- 
cessible to all human power ; for they cher- 
ished sentiments more elevated than even 
the institutions themselves, over which 
they were so sensitively watchful. 

It is well known, that, in the eighteenth 
century, the human understanding, im- 
pelled by the accumulation of wealth, the 
growth of population, and the increase of 
every form of social power, as well as by 
its own impetuous and self-derived activity, 
attempted the conquest of the world. Po- 
litical science, in all its forms, woke into 
new and vigorous life; as did, to a still 



OF WASHINGTON. 17 

greater degree, the spirit of philosophy, 
proud, unsatisfied, eager to penetrate and 
to regulate all things. English America 
shared in this great movement, but se- 
renely and dispassionately ; obeying its 
inherent tendency rather than rushing into 
new and untried paths. Philosophical 
opinions were there combined with religious 
belief, the triumphs of reason with the 
heritage of faith, and the rights of man 
Avith those of the Christian. 

A noble spectacle is presented to us, 
when we see the union of historical and 
rational right, of traditions and opinions. 
A nation, in such a case, gains in prudence 
as well as in energy. When time-honored 
and esteemed truths control man without 
enslaving him, restrain at the same time 
that they support him, he can move on- 
Avard and upward, without danger of being 
carried away by the impetuous flight of his 
own spirit, soon to be either dashed in 
pieces against unknown obstacles, or to 
sink gradually into a sluggish and paralyz- 
ing inactivity. And when, by a further 
union, still more beautiful and more salu- 
tary, religious belief is indissolubly linked, 



18 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

in the very mind of man, to the general 
progress of opinions, and liberty of reason 
to the firm convictions of faith. — it is then 
that a people may trnst themselves to the 
boldest institntions. For religious belief 
promotes, to an incalculable extent, the 
wise management of human affairs. In 
order to discharge properly the duty as- 
signed to him in this life, man must con- 
template it from a higher point of view ; if 
his mind be merely on the same level with 
the task he is performing, he will soon fall 
below it, and become incapable of accom- 
plishing it in a worthy manner. 

Such was the fortunate condition, both 
of man and of society, in the English colo- 
nies, when, in a spirit of haughty aggres- 
sion, England undertook to control their 
fortunes and their destiny, without their 
own consent. This aggression was not un- 
precedented, nor altogether arbitrary ; it 
also rested upon historical foundations, and 
might claim to be supported by some right. 

It is the great problem of political sci- 
ence, to bring the various powers of society 
into harmony, by assigning to each its 
sphere and its degree of activity ; a bar- 



OF WASHINGTON. 19 

mony never assnredj and always liable to 
be disturbed, but which, nevertheless, can 
be produced, even from the elements of the 
struggle itself, to that degree which the 
public safety imperatively demands. It is 
not the privilege of states in their infancy 
to accomplish this result. Not that any 
essential power is in them absolutely disre- 
garded and annihilated ; on the contrary, 
all powers are found in full activity ; but 
they manifest themselves in a confused 
manner, each one in its own behalf, without 
necessary connexion or any just proportion, 
and in a way to bring on, not the struggle 
which leads to harmony, but the disorder 
which renders war inevitable. 

In the infancy of the English colonies, 
three different powers are found, side by 
side with their liberties, and consecrated by 
the same charters, — the crown, the propri- 
etary founders, whether companies or indi- 
viduals, and the mother country. The 
crown, by virtue of the monarchical princi- 
ple, and with its traditions, derived from 
the Church and the Empire. The proprie- 
tary founders, to whom the territory had 
been granted, by virtue of the feudal pria- 



20 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

ciple, which attaches a considerable portion 
of sovereignty to the proprietorship of the 
soil. The mother coiuitry, by virtue of the 
colonial principle, which, at all periods and 
among all nations, by a natural connexion 
between facts and opinions, has given to 
the mother country a great influence over 
the population proceeding from its bosom. 

From the very commencement, as well 
in the course of events as in the charters, 
there was great confusion among these 
various powers, by turns exalted or depress- 
ed, united or divided, sometimes protect- 
ing, one against another, the colonists and 
their franchises, and sometimes assailing 
them in concert. In the course of these 
confused changes, all sorts of pretexts were 
assumed, and facts of all kinds cited, in 
justification and support either of their acts 
or their pretensions. 

In the middle of the seventeenth century, 
when the monarchical principle was over- 
thrown in England in the person of Charles 
the First, one might be led to suppose, for 
a moment, that the colonies would take 
advantage of this to free themselves entirely 
from its control. In point of fact, some of 



OF WASHINGTON. 21 

them, Massachusetts especially, settled by 
stern Puritans, showed themselves disposed, 
if not to break every tie which bound them 
to the mother country, at least to govern 
themselves, alone, and by their own laws. 
But the Long Parliament, by force of the 
colonial principle, and in virtue of the 
rights of the crown which it inherited, 
maintained, with moderation, the suprema- 
cy of Great Britain. Cromwell, succeeding 
to the power of the Long Parliament, exer- 
cised it in a more striking manner, and, by 
a judicious and resolute principle of protec- 
tion, prevented or repressed, in the colonies, 
both royalist and Puritan, every faint aspi- 
ration for independence. 

This was to him an easy task. The 
colonies, at this period, were feeble and 
divided. Virginia, in 1640, did not con- 
tain more than three or four thousand in- 
habitants, and in 1660 hardly thirty thou- 
sand.=^ Maryland had at most only twelve 
thousand. In these two provinces the roy- 
alist party had the ascendency, and greeted 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, edition of 1805, Vol. I. 
p. 76. Bancroft's Ilislory of the United States, Vol. I. pp. 
210, 232, 265. 



22 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

with joy the Restoration. In Massachu- 
setts, on the other hand, the general feehng 
was repiibhcan ; the fugitive regicides, 
GolTe and Whalley, found there favor and 
protection; and when the local government 
were compelled to proclaim Charles the 
Second as king, they forbade, at the same 
time, all tumultuous assemblies, all kinds 
of merry-making, and even the drinking of 
the King's health. There was, at that time, 
neither the moral unity, nor the physical 
strength, necessary to the foundation of a 
state. 

After 1688, when England was finally in 
possession of a free government, the colo- 
nies felt but slightly its advantages. The 
charters, which Charles the Second and 
James the Second had either taken away 
or impaired, were but imperfectly and par- 
tially restored to them. The same confusion 
prevailed, the same struggles arose between 
the different powers. The greater part of 
the governors, coming from Europe, tempo- 
rarily invested with the prerogatives and 
pretensions of royalty, displayed them with 
more arrogance than power, in an adminis- 
tration, generally speaking, inconsistent, 



OF WASHINGTON. 23 

irritating, seldom successful, frequently 
marked by grasping selfishness, and a post- 
ponement of the interests of the public to 
petty personal quarrels. 

Moreover, it was henceforth not the 
crown alone, but the crown and the mother 
country united, with which the colonies 
had to deal. Their real sovereign was no 
longer the king, but the king and the people 
of Great Britain, represented and mingled 
together in Parliament. And the Parlia- 
ment regarded the colonies with nearly the 
same eyes, and held, in respect to them, 
nearly the same language, as had lately 
been used towards the Parliament itself, by 
those kings whom it afterwards overcame. 
An aristocratic senate is the most intracta- 
ble of masters. Every member of it pos- 
sesses the supreme power, and no one is 
responsible for its exercise. 

In the mean time, the colonies were 
rapidly increasing in population, in wealth, 
in strength internally, and in importance 
externally. Instead of a few obscure estab- 
lishments, solely occupied with their own 
affairs, and hardly able to sustain their 
own existence, a people was now forming 



24 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

itselfj whose agriculture, commerce, enter- 
prisiug spirit, and relative position to other 
states, were giving them a place and con- 
sideration among men. The mother coun- 
try, unable to govern them well, had neither 
the leisure nor the ill will to oppress them 
absolutely. She vexed and annoyed them 
without checking their growth. 

And the minds of men were expanded, 
and their hearts elevated, with the growing 
fortunes of the country. By an admirable 
law of Providence, there is a mysterious 
connexion between the general condition of 
a country, and the state of feeling among 
the citizens ; a certain, though not obvious, 
bond of union, which connects their growth 
and their destinies, and which makes the 
farmer in his fields, the merchant in his 
counting-room, even the mechanic in his 
workshop, grow more confident and high- 
spirited, in proportion as the society, in 
whose bosom they dwell, is enlarged and 
strengthened. As early as 1692, the Gen- 
eral Court of Massachusetts passed a reso- 
lution, " that no tax should be levied upon 
his Majesty's subjects in the colonies, with- 
out the consent of the Governor and Coun- 



OF WASHINGTON, 



25 



cil, and the representatives in General 
Court assembled."^ In 1704, the legisla- 
tive assembly of New York made a similar 
declaration.-]- The government of Great 
Britain repelled them, sometimes by its 
silence, and sometimes by its measures, 
which were always a little indirect and re- 
served. The colonists were often silent in 
their turn, and did not insist upon carrying 
out their principles to their extreme conse- 
quences. But the principles themselves 
were spreading among the colonial society, 
at the same time that the resources were 
increasing, which were destined, at a future 
day to be devoted to their service, and to 
insure their triumph. 

Thus, when that day arrived, when 
George the Third and his Parliament, rath- 
er in a spirit of pride, and to prevent the 
loss of absolute power by long disuse, than 
to derive any advantage from its exercise, 
undertook to lax the colonies without their 
consent, a powerful, numerous, and enthu- 
siastic party, — the national party, — imme- 

* Story's Commentaries on the Constitution, Vol. I. p. 62. 
t Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. II. p. IT. 



26 CHARACTER AXD INFLUENCE. 

cliately sprang into being, ready to resist, in 
the name of right and of national honor. 

It was indeed a question of right and of 
honor, and not of interest or physical well- 
being. The taxes were light, and imposed 
no burden upon the colonists. But they 
belonged to that class of men who feel most 
keenly the wrongs which aflect the mind 
alone, and who can find no repose while 
honor is unsatisfied. " For, Sir, what is it 
Ave are contending against? Is it against 
paying the duty of three pence per pound 
on tea, because burdensome 7 No ; it is the 
right only, that we have all along dis- 
puted."* Such was, at the commencement 
of the quarrel, the language of Washington 
himself, and such was the public senti- 
ment — a sentiment founded in sound policy, 
as well as moral sense, and manifesting as 
much judgment as virtue. 

An instructive spectacle is presented to 
our contemplation, in the number of public 
associations, which at that time were 
formed in the colonies ; — associations, local 

* Washington to Bryan Fairfax. Washington's Writings, 
Vol. II. p. 392. 



OF WASHINGTON. 27 

or general, accidental or permanent ; cham- 
bers of burgesses and of representatives, 
conventions, committees, and congresses. 
Men of very different characters and dispo- 
sitions there met together ; some, full of 
respect and attachment to the mother coun- 
try, others, ardently devoted to that Ameri- 
can country which was growing up under 
their eyes and by the labor of their own 
hands ; the former, anxious and dejected, 
the latter, confident and enthusiastic, but 
all moved and united by the same elevated 
sentiment, and the same resolution to resist; 
giving the freest utterance to their various 
views and opinions, without its producing 
any deep or permanent division ; on the 
contrary, respecting in each other the rights 
of freedom, discussing together the great 
question of the country with that conscien- 
tious purpose, that spirit of justice and dis- 
cretion, which gave them assurance of 
success, and diminished the cost of its pur- 
chase. In June 1775, the first Congress, 
assembled at Philadelphia, took measures 
for the publication of a solemn declaration, 
for the purpose of justifying the taking up 
of arms. Two members, one from Virginia, 



28 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

and one from Peniis^'^lvania, were a part of 
the committee charged with the duty of 
drawing it up. " I prepared," relates Mr. 
Jefferson himseh", " a draft of the declara- 
tion committed to ns. It was too strong for 
Mr. Dickinson. He still retained the hope 
of reconciliation with the mother country, 
and was unwilling it should be lessened 
by offensive statements. He was so honest 
a man. and so able a one, that he was 
greatly indulged, even by those who could 
not feel his scruples. We therefore re- 
quested him to take the paper, and put it 
into a form he could approve. He did so : 
preparing an entire new statement, and 
preserving of the former only the last four 
paragraphs, and half of the preceding one. 
We approved and reported it to Congress, 
who accepted it. Congress gave a signal 
proof of their indulgence to Mr. Dickinson, 
and of their great desire not to go too fast 
for any respectable part of our body, in 
permitting him to draw their second peti- 
tion to the King according to his own ideas, 
and passing it with scarcely an amendment. 
The disgust against its humility was gen- 
eral ; and Mr. Dickinson's delight at its 



OF WASHINGTON. 29 

passage was the only circumstance that 
reconciled them to it. The vote being 
passed, although further observation on it 
was out of order, he could not refrain from 
rising and expressing his satisfaction, and 
concluded by saying, ' There is but one 
word, Mr. President, in the paper, which I 
disapprove, and that is the word Con- 
gress ;"* on which Benjamin Harrison rose 
and said J ' There is but one word in the 
paper, Mr. President, of which I approve, 
and that is the word Co?igress.^ ""^ 

Such a unanimity of feeling in the midst 
of so much liberty was not a short-lived 
wisdom, the happy influence of the first 
burst of enthusiasm. During the period of 
nearly ten years, which the great contest 
occupied, men the most unlike, who were 
ranked under the banners of the same na- 
tional party, young and old, enthusiastic 
and calm, continued to act thus in concert, 
one portion being sufliciently wise, and the 
other sufficiently firm, to prevent a rupture. 
And when, forty-six years afterwards,! 



* Jefferson's Memoirs, Vol, I. pp. 9, 10. 
t Mr, Jefferson wrote bis Jfemoirs in 1821. 



30 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

after having taken part in the violent strug- 
gle between the parties which American 
liberty gave birth to, himself the head of 
the victorious party, Mr. Jefferson called up 
anew the recollections of his youth, we may 
be sure, that it was not Avithout mingled 
emotions of pain and pleasure, that he re- 
curred to these noble examples of modera- 
tion and justice. 

Insurrection, resistance to established 
authority, and the enterprise of forming a 
new government, are matters of grave im- 
portance to men like these, to all men of 
sense and virtue. Those who have the 
most forecast, never calculate its whole ex- 
tent. The boldest would shudder in their 
hearts, could they foresee all the dangers of 
the undertaking. Independence was not 
the premeditated purpose, not even the 
wish, of the colonies. A few bold and 
sagacious spirits either saw that it would 
come, or expressed their desire for it, after 
the period of resistance under the forms of 
law had passed. But the American people 
did not aspire to it, and did not urge their 
leaders to make claim to it. " ' For all 
what you Americans say of your loyalty,' 



OF WASHINGTON. 31 

observed the illustrious Lord Camden, at 
that time Mr. Pratt, ' I know you will one 
day throw off your dependence upon this 
country; and, notwithstanding your boast- 
ed affection to it, will set up for independ- 
ence.' Franklin answered, ' No such idea 
is entertained in the minds of the Ameri- 
cans ; and no such idea will ever enter 
their heads, unless you grossly abuse them.' 
' Very true,' replied Mr. Pratt, ' that is one 
of the main causes I see will happen, and 
will produce the event.' '' ^ 

Lord Camden was right in his conjec- 
tures. English America was grossly abus- 
ed; and yet, in 1774, and even in 1775, 
hardly a year before the declaration of inde- 
pendence, and when it was becoming in- 
evitable, Washington and Jefferson thus 
wrote; " Although you are taught, I say, 
to believe, that the people of Massachusetts 
are rebellious, setting up for independency, 
and what not, give me leave, my good 
friend, to tell you, that you are abused, 

grossly abused 

I can announce it as a fact, that it is not 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 496. 



32 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

the wish or interest of that government, or 
any other upon this continent, separately 
or collectively, to set up for independence ; 
but this you may, at the same lime, rely 
on, that none of them will ever submit to 
the loss of those valuable rights and privi- 
leges, which are essential to the happiness 
of every free state, and without which, life, 
liberty, and property are rendered totally 
insecure."* " Believe me, dear Sir, there 
is not in the British empire a man, who 
more cordially loves a union with Great 
Britain than I do. But, by the God that 
made me, I will cease to exist, before I will 
yield to a connexion on such terms as the 
British Parliament propose, and, in this, I 
think I speak the sentiments of America. 
We want neither inducement nor power to 
declare and assert a separation. It is will 
alone, which is wanting, and that is grow- 
ing apace, under the fostering hand of our 
King." t 

George the Third, in point of fact, 



* Letter to Robert Mackenzie, 9 October, 1774 ; Wash- 
ington's Writings, Vol. IL p. 400. 

[ Letter to Mr. Randolph, 29th November, 1775 ; Jeffer- 
son's Memoirs and Corre^orultnce, Vol. L p. 153. 



OF WASHINGTON. 33 

pledged to the course he was pursuing, 
and acting under the influence of passion- 
ate obstinacy, animated and sustained his 
ministers and the Parliament in the strug- 
gle. In vain were fresh petitions constantly 
presented to him, always loyal and respect- 
ful without insincerity; in vain was his 
name commended to the favor and pro- 
tection of God, in the services of religion, 
according to usual custom. He paid no 
attention, either to the prayers which were 
made to him, or to those which were 
offered to Heaven in his behalf; and by 
his order the war continued, without 
ability, without vigorous and well-com- 
bined efforts, but with that hard and 
haughty obstinacy, which destroys in the 
heart all affection as well as hope. 

Evidently the day had arrived, when 
power had forfeited its claim to loyal obe- 
dience; and when the people were called 
upon to protect themselves by force, no 
longer finding in the established order of 
things either safety or shelter. Such a mo- 
ment is a fearful one, big with unknown 
events ; one, which no human sagacity can 
predict, and no human government can 



34 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

control, but which, notwithstandmg, does 
sometimes come, bearing an impress stamp- 
ed by the hand of God. If the struggle, 
which begins at such a moment, were one 
absolutely forbidden ; if, at the mysterious 
point in which it arises, this great social 
duty did not press even upon the heads of 
those who deny its existence, the human 
race, long ago, wholly fallen under the 
yoke, would have lost all dignity as well as 
all happiness. 

Nor was there wanting another condi- 
tion, also essential, to the legitimate char- 
acter of the insurrection of the English 
colonies. They had a reasonable chance 
of success. 

No vigorous hand, at that time, had the 
management of pubhc affairs in England. 
The cabinet of Lord North was not re- 
markable for talent or generosity of feel- 
ing. The only eminent man in the coun- 
try'. Lord Chatham, was in the opposi- 
tion. 

The times of extreme tyranny had gone 
by. Proscriptions, judicial and military 
cruelties, a general and systematic laying 
waste of the country ; all those terrible 



OF WASHINGTON. 35 

measures, those atrocious sufferings, which 
a httle while before in the heart of Europe, 
in a cause equally just, had been inflicted 
upon the Hollanders, would not have been 
tolerated in the eighteenth century, by 
the spectators of the American contest, 
and, indeed, were never thought of by 
those who w^ere the most fiercely engaged 
in it. On the contrary, a powerful party 
was formed, and eloquent voices were 
constantly lifted up, in the British Parlia- 
ment itself, in support of the colonies and 
of their rights. This is the glory and 
distinction of a representative government, 
that it insures to every cause its champions, 
and brings even into the arena of politics 
those defences, which were instituted for 
the sanctuary of the laws. 

Europe, moreover, could not be a passive 
spectator of such a struggle. Two great 
powers, France and Spain, had serious 
losses and recent injuries in America itself^ 
to avenge upon England. Two powers, 
whose greatness was of recent growth, 
Russia and Prussia, displayed in favor of 
liberal opinions a sympathy which was en- 
lightened, though a little ostentatious, and 



SQ CHARACTER AXD INFLUENCE 

showed themselves disposed to seize the 
occasion of bringing discredit upon Eng- 
land, or of injuring her, in the name of 
liberty itself. A republic, formerly glori- 
ous and formidable, still rich and honored, 
Holland, could not fail to assist America, 
against her ancient rival, with her capital, 
and her credit. Finall^T-, among the powers 
of an inferior rank, all those whose situa- 
tion rendered the maritime supremacy of 
England odious or injurious to them, could 
not but feel in favor of the new state a 
good will; timid, perhaps, and without 
immediate effect, but still useful and en- 
couraging. 

By the rarest good fortune, at that time 
every thing united and acted in concert in 
favor of the insurgent colonies. Their 
cause was just, their strength already 
great, and their characters marked by 
prudence and morality. Upon their own 
soil, laws and manners, old facts and 
modern opinions, united in sustaining and 
animating them in their purpose. Great 
alliances were preparing for them in Eu- 
rope. Even in the councils of the hostile 
mother country, they had powerful sup- 



OF WASHINGTON. 37 

port. Never, in the history of human so- 
cieties, had any new and contested right 
received so much favor, and engaged in 
the strife with so many chances of suc- 
cess. 

Still by how many obstacles was this 
undertaking opposed ! What efforts and 
sacrifices did it cost to the generation 
which was charged with the duty of ac- 
complishing it! How many times did it 
appear to be, and indeed really was, on 
the point of being utterly defeated ! 

In the country itself, among the people 
in appearance and sometimes in reality 
so unanimous, independence, when once 
declared, soon met numerous and active 
adversaries. In 1775, hardly had the first 
guns been fired at Lexington, when, in the 
midst of the general enthusiasm, a compa- 
ny of Connecticut troops was requisite in 
New York to sustain the republican party 
against the Tories or Loyalists, a name 
which the partisans of the mother coun- 
try had proudly adopted.* In 1775, New 
York sent important supplies to the Eng- 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. II. p. 187. 



38 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

lish army under the orders of General 
Gage.^ In 1776, when General Howe ar- 
rived upon the shores of the same province, 
a crowd of inhabitants manifested their 
joy, renewed the oath of fideUty to the 
crown, and took up arms in its behalff 
The feehng was the same in New Jersey, 
and the Loyahst corps, levied in these two 
provinces, equalled in numbers the contin- 
gents furnished by them to the republican 
armies.J In the midst of this population, 
Washington himself was not in safety ; a 
conspiracy was formed to deliver him up 
to the English, and some members of his 
own guard were found to be engaged in 
it.§ jMaryland and Georgia were divided. 
In North and South Carolina, in 1776 
and 1779. two Loyalist regiments, one of 
fifteen hundred, and the other of seven 
hundred men, were formed in a few days. 
Against these domestic hostilities. Con- 
gress and the local governments used, at 
tirst, extreme moderation; rallying the 

* Mai-shall's Life of Washinghyn, Vol. II. p. 229. 
t Ibid., Vol. II. p. 381. 

t Ibid., Vol. III. p. 47. Spark's Life of Wasliington, 
Vol. I. p 261. 
§ Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. II. p. 364. 



OF WASHINGTON. 39 

friends of independence without troubling 
themselves with its opponents ; demand- 
ing nothing from those who would have 
refused ; everywhere exerting themselves 
by means of writings, correspondence, asso- 
ciations, and the sending of commissioners 
into the doubtful counties, to confirm their 
minds, to remove their scruples, and to 
demonstrate to them the justice of their 
cause, and the necessity there was for 
the stqDS they had taken. For, generally, 
the Loyalist party was founded upon 
sincere and honorable sentiments ; fidelity, 
affection, gratitude, respect for tradition, 
and a love of established order; and 
from such sentiments it derived its strength. 
For some time the government content- 
ed itself with watching over this party 
and keeping it under restraint; in some 
districts, they even entered into treaty 
with it, to secure its neutrality. But 
the course of events, the imminence of 
the danger, the urgent need of assistance, 
and the irritation of the passions, soon led 
to a more rigorous course. Arrests and 
banishment became frequent. The prisons 
were filled. Confiscations of property com- 



40 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

menced. Local committees of public safe- 
ty disposed of the liberty of their fel- 
low-citizens, on the evidence of general 
notoriety. Popular violence, in more than 
one instance, was added to the arbitrary 
severities of the magistrates. A printer 
in New York was devoted to the cause 
of the Loyalists; a troop of horsemen, 
who had come from Connecticut for that 
purpose, broke his presses and carried off 
his types.^ The spirit of hatred and 
vengeance was awakened. In Georgia 
and South Carolina, on the western fron- 
tier of Connecticut and of Pennsylvania, 
the struggle between the two parties was 
marked with cruelty. Notwithstanding the 
legitimate character of the cause, notwith- 
standing the virtuous wisdom of its leaders, 
the infant republic was experiencing the 
horrors of a civil war. 

Evils and dangers, still more serious, 
were every day springing from tlie national 
party itself. The motives which led to the 
insurrection were pure; too pure to consist 
for any length of time, among the mass at 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. II. p. 210. 



OP WASHINGTON. 41 

least, with the imperfections of humanity. 
When the people were appealed to in the 
name of rights, to be maintained, and honor 
to be saved, the first impulse was a general 
one. But, however great may be the favor 
of Providence, in such great enterprises, the 
toil is severe, success is slow, and the gen- 
erality of men soon become exhausted 
through weariness or impatience. The 
colonists had not taken up arms to escape 
from any atrocious tyranny; they had not, 
like their ancestors in fleeing from P^ngland, 
the first privileges of life to regain, personal 
security and religious toleration. They 
were no longer stimulated by any urgent 
personal motive ; there were no social spoils 
to be divided, no old and deep-seated pas- 
sions to gratify. The contest was prolonged 
without creating in thousands of retired fam- 
ilies those powerful interests, those coarse 
but strong ties, which, in our old and violent 
Europe, have so often given to revolutions 
their force and their misery. Every day, 
almost every step towards success, on the 
contrary, called for new efforts and new 
sacrifices. "I believe, or at least I hope," 
wrote Washington, "that there is public 



42 CHARACTER AXD INFLUENCE 

virtue enough left among us to 'deny our- 
selves every thing but the bare necessaries 
of life, to accomplish this end."* A sub- 
lime hope, one which deserved to be re- 
warded as it was, by the triumph of the 
cause, but which could not raise to its own 
lofty elevation all that population, whose 
free and concurring support was the con- 
dition, and indeed the only means, of suc- 
cess. Depression, lukewarmness, inactivity, 
the desire to escape from labors and ex- 
penses, soon became the essential evil, the 
pressing danger, against which the leaders 
had constantly to struggle. In point of fact, 
it was among the leaders, in the front ranks 
of the party, that enthusiasm and devoted- 
ness were maintained. In other instances 
of similar events, the impulse of persever- 
ance and self-sacrifice has come from the 
people. In America, it was the independ- 
ent and enlightened classes, who were 
obliged to animate and sustain the people 
in the great contest in which they were en- 
gaged for their country's sake. In the 

* Letter to Bryan Fairfax ; Washington's Writings, Vol. 
IL p. 395. 



OP WASHINGTON. 43 

ranks of civil life, the magistrates, the rich 
planters, the leading merchants, and, in 
the army, the ofTicers, always showed 
themselves the most ardent and the most 
firm; from them, example as well as coun- 
sel proceeded, .and the people at largo fol- 
lowed them with difficulty, instead of urg- 
ing them on. " Take none for officers but 
gentlemen ^''^ was the recommendation of 
Washington, after the war had lasted three 
years. ^ So fully had he been taught by 
experience, that these were everywhere de- 
voted to the cause of independence, and 
ready to risk every thing and suffer every 
thing to insure its success. 

These, too, were the only persons who, 
at least on their own account, could sus- 
tain the expenses of the war, for the State 
made no provision for them. Perhaps no 
army ever lived in a more miserable con- 
dition than the American army. Almost 
constantly inferior in numbers to the enemy ; 
exposed to a periodical and, in some sort, 
legalized desertion; called upon to march, 

* Iq his instructions to Colonel George Baylor, 9lh of 
January, 1777 ; Wasldnfjlon' s Writings, Vol. IV. p. 269. 



44 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

encamp, and fight, in a country of im- 
mense extent, thinly peopled, in parts 
uncultivated, through vast swamps and 
savage forests, without magazines of pro- 
visions, often without money to purchase 
them, and without the power to make re- 
quisitions of them ; obliged, in carrying on 
war, to treat the inhabitants, and to respect 
them and their property, as if it had con- 
sisted of troops in garrison in a time of 
peace, this army was exposed to great ex- 
igencies, and a prey to unheard-of suffer- 
ings. "Forsomedays," writes Washington, 
in 1777, ''there has been little less than 
a famine in camp. A part of the army 
have been a week without any kind of 
flesh, and the rest three or four days. The 

soldiers are naked and starving." 

" "We find gentlemen reprobating the meas- 
ure of going into winter quarters; as much 
as if they thought the soldiers were made 
of stocks or stones, and equally insensible 
of frost and snow ; and, moreover, as if 
they conceived it easily practicable, for an 
inferior army, under the disadvantages I 
have described ours to be, to confine a su- 
perior one, in all repects well-appointed 



OP WASHINGTON. 45 

and provided for a winter's campaign, 
within the city of Philadelphia, and to cover 
from depredation and waste the States of 

Pennsylvania and Jersey." 

" I can assure those gentlemen, that it is a 
much easier and less distressing thing to 
draw remonstrances in a comfortable room 
by a good fireside, than to occupy a cold, 
bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow, 
w^ithout clothes or blankets. I feel super- 
abundantly for the poor soldiers, and, from 
my soul, I pity those miseries which it is 
neither in my power to relieve nor pre- 
vent."* 

Congress, to whom he applied, could do 
hardly more than he himself. Without 
the strength necessary to enforce the exe- 
cution of its orders ; without the power of 
passing any laws upon the subject of taxes ; 
obliged to point out the necessities of the 
country, and to solicit the thirteen confed- 
erated States to provide for them, iu the 
face of an exhausted people, a ruined com- 
merce, and a depreciated paper currency; 
this assembly, though firm and prudent, 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. V. pp. 199, 200. 



46 CHAKACTER AND INFLUENCE 

was often able to do nothing more than ad- 
dress new entreaties to the States, and 
clothe Washington with new powers; in- 
structing him to obtain from the local gov- 
ernments, reinforcements, money, provi- 
sions, and every thing requisite to carry on 
the war. 

Washington accepted this difficult trust; 
and he soon found a new obstacle to sur- 
mount, a new danger to remove. No bond 
of union, no central power, had hitherto 
united the colonies. Each one having been 
founded and governed separately, each, on 
its own account, providing for its own 
safety, for its public works, for its most 
tritiing as well as most important affairs, 
they had contracted habits of isolation and 
almost of rivalship, which the distrustful 
mother country had taken pains to foster. 
In their relations to each other, even ambi- 
tion and the desire of conquest insinuated 
themselves, as if the States had been for- 
eign to each other ; the most powerful ones 
sometimes attempted to absorb the neigh- 
boring establishments, or to deprive them 
of their authority ; and in their most im- 
portant interest, the defence of their fron- 



OF WASHINGTON. 47 

tiers against the savages, tliey often fol- 
lowed a selfish course of policy, and mu- 
tually abandoned one another. 

It was a most arduous task to combine 
at once, into one system, elements which 
had hitherto been separated, without hold- 
ing them together by violence, and, while 
leaving them free, to induce them to act in 
concert under the guidance of one and the 
same power. The feelings of individuals 
no less than public institutions, passions as 
well as laws, were opposed to this result. 
The colonies wanted confidence in each 
other. All of them were jealous of the 
power of Congress, the new and nntried 
rival of the local assemblies ; they were 
still more jealous of the army, which they 
regarded as being, at the same time, dan- 
gerous to the independence of the States 
and to the liberty of the citizens. Upon 
this point, new and enhghtened opinions 
were in unison with popular feeling. The 
danger of standing arn:iies, and the neces- 
sity, in free countries, of perpetually resist- 
ing and diminishing their power, their in- 
fluence, and the contagion of their morals, 
was one of the favorite maxims of the 



48 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

eighteenth century. Nowhere, perhaps, 
was this maxim more generally or more 
warmly received than in the colonies of 
America. In the bosom of the national 
party, those who were the most ardent, the 
most firmly resolved to carry on the con- 
test with vigor and to the end, were also 
the most sensitive friends of civil liberty ; 
that is to say, these \vere the men, who 
looked npon the army, a military spirit, 
military discipline, with the most hostile 
and suspicious eye. Thus it happened, 
that obstacles were met with precisely in 
that quarter in which it was natural to 
look for, and to expect to find, the means of 
success. 

And in this army itselt', the object of so 
much distrust, there prevailed the most in- 
dependent and domocratic spirit. All or- 
ders were submitted to discussion. Each 
company claimed the privilege of acting on 
its own account and for its own convenience. 
The troops of the different States were un- 
AvilHug to obey any other than their own 
generals; and the soldiers, any other thanofii- 
cers, sometimes directly chosen, and always 
at least approved, by themselves. And the 



OF WASHINGTON. 49 

day after a defeat which it was necessary 
to retrieve, or a victory which was to be 
followed up, whole regiments would break 
up and go home, it being impossible to pre- 
vail upon them to wait even a few days 
for the arrival of their successors. 

A painful doubt, mingled with apprehen- 
sion, arises in the mind at the contempla- 
tion of the many and severe sufferings with 
which the course of the most just revolu- 
tion is attended, and of the many and peril- 
ous chances to which a revolution, the best 
prepared for success, is exposed. But this 
doubt is rash and unjust. Man, through 
pride, is blind in his confident expectation, 
and, through weakness, is no less blind in 
his despair. The most just and successful 
revolution brings into light the evil, phy- 
sical and moral, always great, which lies 
hidden in every human society. But the 
good does not perish in this trial, nor in the 
unholy connexion which it is thus led to 
form; however imperfect and alloyed, it 
preserves its power as well as its rights ; if 
it be the leading principle in men, it pre- 
vails, sooner or later, in events also, and 



50 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 



plish its victory. 

Let the people of the United States for ever 
hold in respectful and grateful remembrance, 
the leading men of that generaton which 
achieved their independence, and founded 
their government! Franklin, Adams, Ham- 
ilton, JeifFerson, Madison, Jay, Henry Mason, 
Greene, Knox, Morris, Pinckney, Clinton, 
Trumbull, Rutledge ; it would be impossible 
to enumerate them all ; for, at the time the 
contest began, there were in each colony, and 
in almost every county in each colony, some 
men already honored by their fellow citi- 
zens, already well known in the defence of 
public liberty, influential by their property, 
talent, or character; faithful to ancient vir- 
tues, yet friendly to modern improvement; 
sensible to the splendid advantages of civili- 
zation, and yet attached to simplicity of 
manners; high-toned in their feelings, but 
of modest minds, at the same, time ambi- 
tious and prudent in their patriotic impul- 
ses ; men of rare endowments, who expected 
much from humanity, without presuming 
too much upon themselves, and who risked 



OF WASHINGTON. 51 

for their country far more than they could 
receive from her, even after her triumph. 

It was to these men, aided by God and 
seconded by the people, that the success of 
the cause was due. Among them, Wash- 
ington was the chief. 

While yet young, indeed very young, he 
had become an object of great expectation. 
Employed as an officer of militia in some 
expeditions to the western frontier of Vir- 
ginia against the French and Indians, he 
had made an equal impression on his supe- 
riors and his companions, the English gov- 
ernors and the American people. The 
former wrote to London to recommend him 
to the favor of the King.^ The latter, as- 
sembled in their churches, to invoke the 
blessing of God upon their arms, listened 
with enthusiasm to an eloquent preacher, 
Samuel Davies, who. in praising the cour- 
age of the Virginians, exclaimed, "As a re- 
markable instance of this, I many point out 
to the public that heroic youth, Colonel 
Washington, whom I cannot but hope Prov- 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 97. 



52 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

idence has hitherto preserved in so signal 
a manner for some important service to his 
country. "* 

It is also related, that fifteen years after- 
wards, in a journey which Washington 
made to the West, when on the hanks of 
the Ohio, an old Indian at the head of his 
tribe requested to see him, and told him 
that, at the battle of Monongahela, he had 
several times discharged his rifle at him, 
.and directed his warriors to do the same ; 
but, to their great surprise, their balls had 
no eflfect. Convinced that Washington was 
under the protection of the Great Spirit, 
he had ceased to fire at him, and had now 
come to pay his respects to a man who, by 
the peculiar favor of Heaven, could never 
die in battle. 

Men are fond of thinking that Providence 
has permitted them to penetrate its secret 
purposes. The anecdote of the old chief 
became current in America, and formed the 
subject of a drama, called The Indian Pro- 
phecy.-\ 

Never, perhaps, was this vague expecta- 

* August 17th, 1755. Washington's Writings. Vol. II. p. 89. 
t Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 475. 



OP WASHINGTON. 53 

tion, this premature confidence in the des- 
tiny, I hardly venture to say the predes- 
tination, of any individual more natural, than 
in the case of Washington : for there never 
was a man who appeared to be, and who 
really was, from his youth, and in his early 
actions, more consistent with his future ca- 
reer, and more adapted to the cause, upon 
which he was destined to bestow success. 

He was a planter by inheritance and in- 
clination, and devoted to those agricultural 
interests, habits, and modes of life, which 
constituted the chief strength of American 
society. Fifty years later, Jefferson, in order 
to justify his confidence in the purely de- 
mocratic organization of this society, said, 
"It cannot deceive us as long as we re- 
main virtuous, and I think we shall, as 
long as agriculture is our principal object."^ 
From the age of twenty years, Washington 
considered agriculture as his principal em- 
ployment, making himself well acquainted 
with the prevalent tone of feeling, and sym- 
pathizing with the virtuous and simple 
habits of his country. Traveling, field- 

* Edinburgh Review^ July, 1830, p. 498. 



54 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

sports, the survey of distant tracts of land, 
intercourse, friendly or hostile, with the In- 
dians on the frontier, these formed the 
amusements of his youth. He was of that 
bold and hardy temperament, which takes 
pleasure in those adventures and perils, 
Avhich, in a vast and wild country, man 
has to encounter. He had that strength of 
body, perseverance, and presence of mind, 
which insure success. 

In this respect, at his entrance into life, 
he felt a slightly presumptuous degree of 
self-confidence. He writes to Governor 
Dinwiddle; "For my own part I can an- 
swer, that I have a constitution hardy 
enough to encounter and undergo the most 
severe trials, and, I flatter myself, resolu- 
tion to face what any man dares."* 

To a spirit like this, war was a more 
congenial employment than field-sports or 
traveling. As soon as an opportunity of- 
fered, he embraced the employment with 
that ardor, which, in the early period of 
life, does not reveal a man's capacity so 
certainly as his taste. In 1754, it is said, 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. U. p. 29. 



OF WASHINGTON. 55 

when George the Second was hearing a 
despatch read, which had been transmitted 
by the Governor of Virginia, and in which 
Washington, than a young major, ended 
the narrative of his first battle with the 
words, " I heard the bullets whistle, and, 
believe me, there is something charming in 
the sound ;" the King observed, ''He would 
not say so,, if he had been used to hear 
many." Washington was of the King's 
opinion ; for, when the major of the Virginia 
militia had become the Commander-in-chief 
of the United States, some one having asked 
him if it were true, that he had ever ex- 
pressed such a sentiment, he replied, " If I 
said so, it was when I was young."* 

But his youthful ardor, which was at the 
same time serious and calm, had the au- 
thority which belongs to a riper age. From 
the first moment in which he embraced the 
military profession, he took pleasure, far 
more than in the excitement of battle, in 
that noble exercise of the understanding 
and the will, armed with power in order to 
accomplish a worthy purpose, that power- 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. 11. p. 39. 



56 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

fill combination of human action and good 
fortune, which kindles and inspires the 
most elevated as well as the most simple 
minds. Born in the first rank of colonial 
society, trained in the public schools in the 
midst of his countrymen, he took his place 
naturally at their head; for he was at once 
their superior and their equal ; formed to 
the same habits, skilled in the same ex 
ercises; a stranger, like them, to all ele- 
gant learning, without snay pretensions to 
scientific knowledge, claiming nothing for 
himself, and exerting only in the public 
service that ascendency, which always at- 
tends a judicious and penetrating under- 
standing, and a calm and energetic char- 
acter, in a disinterested position. 

In 1754, he was just appearing in society, 
and entering upon his military career. It 
is a young oflicer of two-and-twenty, who 
commands battalions of mihtia, and cor- 
responds with the representative of the king 
of England. In neither of these relations 
does he feel any embarrassment. He loves 
his associates; he respects the king and the 
governor ; but neither affection nor respect 
alters the independence of his judgment or 



OF WASHINGTON. 57 

of his conduct. By an admirable, in- 
stinctive power of action and command, he 
sees and apprehends, by what means and 
upon what terms success is to be obtained 
in the enterprise he has undertaken on be- 
half of his king and his country. And these 
terms he imposes, these means he insists 
upon; from the soldiers he exacts all that 
can be accomplished by discipline, prompt- 
ness, and activity in the service; from the 
governor, that he shall discharge his duty 
in respect to the pay of the soldiers, the 
furnishing of supplies, and the choice of 
officers. In every case, whether his words 
or opinions are sent up to the superior 
to whom he is rendering his account, or 
pass down to the subordinates under his 
command, they are equally precise, prac- 
tical, and decided, equally marked by that 
authority which truth and necessity bestow 
upon the man who appears in their name. 
From this moment, Washington is the lead- 
ing American of his time, the faithful and 
conspicuous representative of his country, 
the man who will best understand and best 
serve her, whether he be called upon to 



58 CHARACTER AXD INFLUENCE 

figlit or negotiate for her, to defend or to 
govern her. 

It is not the issue alone which has re- 
vealed this. His contemporaries foresaw 
it. Colonel Fairfax, his first patron, wrote 
to him, in 1756, " Your good health and 
fortune are the toast at every table."* In 
1759, chosen, for the first time, to the House 
of Burgesses in Virginia, at the moment 
when he was taking his seat in the House, 
the Speaker, Mr. Robinson, presented to 
him, in warm and animated terms, the 
thanks of the House for the services which 
he had rendered to his country. Wash- 
ington rose to make his acknowledgments 
for so distinguished an honor; but such 
was his embarrassment, that he could not 
speak a single word ; he blushed, hesitated, 
and trembled. The Speaker at once came 
to his aid, and said, "Sit down, Mr. Wash- 
ington ; your modesty equals your valor, 
and that surpasses the power of any lan- 
guage that I possess.*'! Finally, in 1774, 
on the eve of the great struggle, after the 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 145. 
t Spark's Life, of Washington, Vol. I. p. 107. 



OF WASHINGTON. 59 

separation of the first Congress held for the 
purpose of making preparations to meet it, 
Patrick Henry replied to those that inquired 
of him, who was the first man in Congress, 
"If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, 
of South Carolina, is the greatest orator; 
but. if you speak of solid information and 
sound judgment, Colonel Washington is 
tinquestionably the greatest man on that 
floor."* 

However, to say nothing of eloquence, 
Washington had not those brilliant and ex- 
traordinary qualities, which strike the im- 
agination of men at the first glance. He 
did not belong to the class of men of vivid 
genius, who pant for an opportunity of dis- 
play, are impelled by great thoughts or 
great passions, and difi'use around them 
the wealth of their own natures, before any 
outward occasion or necessity calls for its 
employment. Free from all internal restless- 
ness and the promptings and pride of am- 
bition, Washington did not seek opportuni- 
ties to distinguish himself, and never aspired 
to the admiration of the world. This spirit 

* Spark's Life of Washington, VoL I., p. 107. 



60 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

SO resolute, this heart so lofty, was pro- 
foundly calm and modest. Capable of rising 
to a level with the highest destiny, he might 
have lived in ignorance of his real power 
without sutTering from it, and have found, 
in the cultivation of his estates, a satisfac- 
tory employment for those energetic lacul- 
ties, which were to be proved equal to the 
task of commanding armies and founding 
a government. 

But, when the opportunity presented it- 
self, when the exigence occurred, without 
eifort on his part, without any surprise on 
the part of others, indeed rather, as we 
have just seen, in conformity with their 
expectations, the prudent planter stood 
forth a great man. He had, in a remarka- 
ble degree, those two qualities which, in 
active life, make men capable of great 
things. He could confide strongly in his 
own views, and act resolutely in conformity 
with them, without fearing to assume the 
responsibility. 

It is always a weakness of conviction, 
that leads to weakness of conduct ; for man 
derives his motives from his own thoughts, 
more than from any other source. From 



OF WASHINGTON. 61 

the moment that the quarrel began, Wash- 
ington was convinced, that the cause of his 
country was just, and that success must 
necessarily follow so just a cause, in a 
country already so powerful. Nine years 
were to be spent, in war to obtain independ- 
ence, and ten years in political discussion 
to form a system of government. Obstacles, 
reverses, enmities, treachery, mistakes, 
public indifference, personal antipathies, all 
these incumbered the progress of Washing- 
ton, during this long period. But his faith 
and hope were never shaken for a moment. 
In the darkest hours, when he was obliged 
to contend against the sadness which hung 
upon his own spirits, he says, '• I cannot 
but hope and beUeve, that the good sense 
of the people will ultimately get the better 
of their prejudices. .... I do not 
believe, that Providence has done so much 
for nothing The great Gov- 
ernor of the universe has led us too long 
and too far on the road to happiness and 
glory to forsake us in the midst of it. By 
folly and improper conduct, proceeding from 
a variety of causes, we may now and then 
get bewildered ; but I hope and trust, that 



62 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

there is good sense and virtue enough left 
to recover the right path before we shall be 
entirely lost."=^ 

And at a later period, when that very 
France which had so well sustained him 
during the war, brought upon him embar- 
rassments and perils more formidable than 
war; when Europe, upheaved from its 
foundations, was pressing heavily upon his 
thoughts, and perplexing his mind, no less 
than America, he still continued to hope 
and to trust. "The rapidity of national 
revolutions appears no less astonishing 
than their magnitude. In what they will 
terminate is known only to the Great Ruler 
of events; and, confiding in his wisdom 
and goodness, we may safely trust the issue 
to him, without perplexing ourselves to 
seek for that, which is beyond human ken: 
only taking care to perform the parts as- 
signed to us, in a way that reason and our 
own consciences approve."f 

The same strength of conviction, the same 
fidelity to his own judgment, which he 



* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. pp. 5, 383, 392. 
t Ibid., Vol. X. p. 331. 



OF WASHINGTON* 03 

manifested in his estimate of things gen- 
erally, attended him in his practical man- 
agement of business. Possessing a mind of 
admirable freedom, rather in virtue of the 
somidness of its views, than of its fertility 
and variety, he never received his opinions 
at second hand, nor adopted them from any 
prejudice; but, on every occasion, he formed 
them himself, by the simple observation or 
attentive study of facts, unswayed by any 
bias or prepossession, always acquainting 
himself personally with the actual truth. 

Thus, when he had examined, reflected, 
and made up his mind, nothing disturbed 
him; he did not permit himself to be thrown 
into, and kept in, a state of perpetual doubt 
and irresolution, either by the opinions of 
others, or by love of applause, or by fear of 
opposition. He trusted in God and in him- 
self " If any power on earth could, or the 
Great Power above would, erect the stand- 
ard of infallibility in political opinions, there 
is no being that inhabits the terrestrial globe, 
that would resort to it with more eagerness 
than myself, so long as I remain a servant 
of the public. But as I have found no 
better guide hitherto, than upright inten- 



64 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

tions, and close investigation, I shall adhere 
to those maxims, while I keep the watch. '*=* 

To this strong and independent under- 
standing, he joined a great courage, always 
ready to act upon conviction, and fearless 
of consequences. "What I admire in Chris- 
topher Columbus," said Turgot, "is, not 
his having discovered the new world, but 
his having gone to search for it on the faith 
of an opinion." Whether the occasion was 
of great or little moment, whether the con- 
sequences were near at hand or remote, 
Washington, when once convinced never 
hesitated to move onward upon the faith of 
his conviction. One would have inferred, 
from his firm and quiet resolution, that it 
was natural to him to act with decision, 
and assume responsibility; — a certain sign 
of a genius born to command ; an admirable 
power, when united to a conscientious disin- 
terestedness. 

On the list of great men, if there be some 
who have shone with a more dazzling lustre, 
there are none who have been exposed to a 
more complete test, in war and in civil gov- 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 71. 



OF WASHINGTON. Go 

ernment ; resisting the king, in the cause 
of liberty, and the people, in the cause of 
legitimate authority ; commencing a revolu- 
tion and ending it. From the first moment, 
his task was clearly manifest in all its extent 
and all its difficulty. To^arry on the war, he 
had not merely to create an army. To this 
work, always so drffiult, the creating power 
itself was wanting. The United States had 
neither a government nor an army. Con- 
gress, a mere phantom, whose unity was 
only in name, had neither authority, nor 
power, nor courage, and did nothing. 
Washington was obliged, from his camp, 
not only to make constant solicitations, but 
to suggest measures for adoption, to point 
out to Congress what course they should 
pursue, if they would prevent both them- 
selves and the army from becoming an idle 
name. His letters were read while they 
were in session, and supplied the subject of 
their debates; debates, characterized by in- 
experience, timidity, and distrust. They 
rested satisfied with appearances and pro- 
mises. They sent messages to the local 
governments. They expressed apprehen- 
sions of military power. Washington re- 



QQ CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

plied respectfully, obeyed; and then insisted; 
demonstrated the deceptiveness of appear- 
ances, and the necessity of a real force to 
give him the substance of the power, of 
which he had the name, and to insure to 
the army the success which they expected 
•of it. Brave and intelligent men, devoted 
to the cause, were not wanting- in this as- 
sembly, so little experienced in the art of 
government. Some of them went to the 
camp, examined for themselves, had inter- 
views with Washington, and brought with 
them, on their return, the weight of their 
own observations and of his advice. The 
assembly gradually grew wiser and bolder, 
and gained confidence in themselves and in 
their general. They adopted the measures, 
and conferred upon him the powers, which 
were necessary. He then entered into cor- 
respondence and negotiations with local 
governments, legislatures, committees, ma- 
gistrates, and private citizens;- placing facts 
before their eyes ; appealing to their good 
sense and their patriotism; availing himself, 
for the public service, of his personal friend- 
ships ; dealing prudently with democratic 
scruples and the sensitiveness of vanity; 



OF WASHINGTON. 67 

maintaining his own dignity ; speaking as 
became his high station, but without giving 
offence, and with persuasive moderation; 
though wisely heedful of human weakness, 
being endowed with the power, to an ex- 
traordinary degree, of influencing men by 
honorable sentiments and by truth. 

And when he had succeeded, when Con- 
gress first, and afterwards the different 
States, had granted him the necessary 
means of making an army, his task was 
not finished ; the business of the war had 
not yet commenced; the army did not exist. 
Here, too, he was obstructed by a complete 
inexperience, the same want of unity, the 
same passion for individaal independence, 
the same conflict between patriotic purposes 
and disorganizing impulses. Here, too, he 
was obliged to bring discordant elements 
into harmony ; to keep together those which 
were constantly ready to separate; to en- 
lighten, to persuade, to induce; to use per- 
sonal influence ; and, without endangering 
his dignity or his power, to obtain the moral 
fidelity, the full and free support, both of 
the oflicers and soldiers. Then only could 
Washington act as a general, and turn his 



68 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

attention to the war. Or, rather, it was 
during the war, in the midst of its scenes, 
its perils, and its hazards, that he was con- 
stantly obliged to recommence, both in the 
countr}^ and the army itself, this work of 
organization and government. 

His military capacity has been called in 
question. He did not manifest, it is true, 
those striking displays of it which, in Eu- 
rope, have given renown to great captains. 
Operating with a small army over an im- 
mense space, great manoeuvres and great 
battles were necessarily unknown to him. 
But his superiority, acknowledged and de- 
clared by his companions, the continuance of 
the war during nine years, and its final 
success, are also to be taken as proofs of 
his merit, and may well justify his reputa- 
tion. His personal bravery Vv^as chivalrous 
even to rashness, and he more than once 
abandoned himself to this impulse in a 
manner painful to contemplate More than 
once, the American militia, seized with ter- 
ror, took to flight, and brave officers sacri- 
ficed their lives to infuse courage into their 
soldiers, hi 1770, on a similar occasion, 
Washington indignantly persisted in re- 



OF WASHINGTON. 69 

• 

maining on the field of battle, exerting him- 
self to arrest the fugitives by his example 
and even by his hand. " We made," wrote 
General Greene the next day, " a miserable, 
disorderly retreat from New York, owing 
to the disorderly conduct of the militia. 
Fellows's and Parsons's brigades ran away 
from about fifty men, and left his Excellency 
on the ground within eighty yards of the 
enemy, so vexed at the infamous conduct 
of the troops, that he sought death rather 
than life."* 

On more than one occasion, also, when 
the opportunity appeared favorable, he dis- 
played the boldness of the general as well 
as the intrepidity of the man. He has been 
called the American Fabius, it being said 
that the art of avoiding battle, of baffling 
the enemy, and of temporizing, was his 
talent as well as his taste. In 1775, before 
Boston, at the opening of the war, this Fa- 
bius wished to bring it to a close by a sud- 
den attack upon the English army, which 
he flattered himself he should be able to 
destroy. Three successive councils of war, 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IV. p. 94. 



lU CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

forced him to abandon his design, but with- 
ont shaking liis conviction, and he express- 
ed bitter regret at the resnlt.^ In 1770, in 
the State of New York, when the weather 
was extremely cold, in the midst of a re- 
treat, with troops half disbanded, the greater 
part of whom were preparing to leave him 
and retnrn to their own homes, Washington 
snddenly assnmed an olfensive position, 
attacked, one after another, at Trenton 
and Princeton, the ditierent corps of the 
English army, and gained two battles in 
eight honrs. 

Moreover, he nnderstood what was even 
a mncli liigher and mnch more difficnlt art, 
than that of making war; he knew how to 
control and direct it. War was to him only a 
means, always kept subordinate to the main 
and fnial object, — the success of the cause, 
the independence of the country. When, in 
179S, the prospect of a possible war be- 
tween the United States and France oc- 
curred to disturb the repose of Mount Ver- 
non, though aheady approaching to old age 

^Washington's Writings, Vol. III. pp. 82, 127, 259, 2S7, 290 
291, 292, 297. 



OF WASHINGTON. 71 

and fond of his retirement, he thus wrote 
to Mr. Adams, his successor in the admin- 
istration of the repubUc. " It was not dif- 
ficult for me to perceive that, if we entered 
into a serious contest with France, the 
character of the war would differ materially 
from the last we were engaged in. Tn the 
latter, time, caution, and worrying the 
enemy, until we could be better provided 
with arms and other means, and had better 
disciplined troops to carry it on, was the 
plan for us. But if we should be engaged 
with the former, they ought to be attacked 
every step."=* 

This system of active and aggressive 
war, which, at the age of sixty-six, he 
proposed to adopt, was one which, twenty- 
two years before, in the vigor of life, neither 
the advice of some of the generals, his 
friends, nor the slanders of some others, his 
enemies, nor the complaints of the States 
which were laid waste by the enemy, nor 
popular clamor, nor the desire of glory, nor 
the recommendations of Congress itself, had 
been able to induce him to follow. '• I 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 309. 



iZ CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

know the unhappy predicament I stand in : 
I know that much is expected of me; I 
know, that without men, without arms, 
without ammunition, without any thing fit 
for the accommodation of a soldier, Httle is 
to be done ; and, wha-t is mortifying, I 
know that I cannot stand justified to the 
world without exposing my own weakness, 
and injuring the cause, which I am deter- 
mined not to do My own 

situation is so irksome to me at times, that, 
if I did not consult the public good more 
than my own tranquillity, I should, long 
ere this, have put every thing on the cast of 
a die."=«= 

He persisted in this course during nine 
years. Only when the protracted nature of 
the contest and the general indifference 
were occasioning a feeling of discourage- 
ment, akin to apathy, did he determine to 
strike a blow, to encounter some brilliant 
hazard, to make the country aware of the 
presence of his army, and relieve the peo- 
ple's hearts of some of their apprehensions. 
It was thus that, in 1777, he fought the 

* \Vashmgtou's Writings, Vol. Ill p. 2Si. 



OF WASHINGTOX. 73 

battle of Germantown. And when, in the 
midst of reverses, endured with heroic pa- 
tience, he was asked what he should do if 
the enemy continued to advance, if Phila- 
delphia, for instance, should be taken ; he 
replied, " We. will retreat beyond the Sus- 
quehanna river, and thence, if necessary, to 
the Alleghany mountains."* 

Besides this patriotic calmness and pa- 
tience, he displayed the same quality in an- 
other form, still more praiseworthy. He 
saw, without chagrin and jll-humor, the 
successes of his inferiors in command. Still 
more, when the public service rendered it 
advisable, he supplied them largely with 
the means and opportunity of gaining them. 
A disinterestedness worthy of all praise, 
rarely found in the greatest minds ; as wise 
as it was noble, in the midst of the envious 
tendencies of a democratic society ; and 
which, perhaps, we may be permitted to 
hope, was in his case attended with a deep 
and tranquil consciousness of his superi- 
ority, and of the glory that would follow 
him. 

^ Sparks's Washington, Vol. I. p. 221. 



74 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

When the horizon was dark, when re- 
peated checks and a snccession of misfor- 
tunes seemed to throw a doubt upon the 
capacity of the Commander-in-chief, and 
gave birth to disorders, intrigues, and hos- 
tile insinuations, a powerful voice was 
quickly raised in his behalf, — the voice of 
the army, which loaded Washington witlt 
testimonials of affectionate respect, and 
placed him beyond the reach of complaints 
and hostile attacks. 

In the winter of 1777 and 1778, while 
the army was encamped at Valley Forge, 
exposed to the most severe hardships, some 
restless and treacherous spirits organized 
against Washington a conspiracy of con- 
siderable magnitude, which penerated into 
the Congress itself. He opposed himself to 
it with stern frankness, saying, without re- 
serve and without cautious insincerity, all 
he thought of his adversaries, and leaving 
his conduct to speak for itself. Such a 
course, at such a moment, was putting 
much at hazard. But the public respect in 
which he was held was so profound, the 
friends of Washington, Lord Stirling, La- 
fayette, Greene, Knox, Patrick Henry, 



OF WASHINGTON. 75 

Henry Laurens, supported him so warmly, 
the movement of opinion in the army was 
so decided, that he triumphed almost with- 
out defending himself. The principal fra- 
mer of this conspiracy, an Irishman by the 
name of Conway, after having sent in his 
resignation, continued to spread against 
him the most injurious charges. General 
Cadwalader resented this conduct ; a duel 
was the consequence; and Conway, se- 
verely wounded, and believing himself to be 
near his death, wrote as follows, to Wash- 
ington. 

'' I find myself just able to hold the pen 
during a few minutes, and take this oppor- 
tunity of expressing my sincere grief for 
having done, written, or said any thing dis- 
agreeable to your Excellency. My career 
will soon be over; therefore justice and 
truth prompt me to declare my last senti- 
ments. You are, in my eyes, the great 
and good man. May you long enjoy the 
love, veneration, and esteem of these States, 
whose liberties you have asserted by your 
virtues."^ 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. V. p. Sir. 



76 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

111 1779, the officers of a New Jersey 
regiment, imperfectly paid, burdened with 
debts contracted in the service, anxious 
about their future prospects and those of 
their famiUes, made an official declaration 
to the legislature of that State, that they 
would resign in a body, if they were not 
better treated. Washington blamed them 
extremely, and required of them to with- 
draw their declaration ; but they persisted 
in their course. " It was, and still is, our 
determination to march with our regiment, 
and to do the duty of officers, until the le- 
gislature should have a reasonable time to 
appoint others, but no longer. We beg 
leave to assure your Excellency, that we 
have the highest sense of your ability and 
virtues; that executing your orders has 
ever given us pleasure; that we love the 
service, and love our country; but v/hen that 
country gets so lost to virtue and justice, as 
to forget to support its servants, it then be- 
comes their duty to retire from its service."* 

Thus, respect for Washington appeared 
conspicuously, even in the cabals formed 

* MarshaU's Life of Washington, Vol. IV. p. 47. 



OF WASHINGTON. 77 

against him, and was mingled with disobe- 
dience itself. 

In the state of distress and disorganiza- 
tion into which the American army was 
perpetually falling, the personal influence 
of Washington, the affection which was 
felt for him, the desire of imitating his ex- 
ample, the fear of losing his esteem, or even 
of giving him pain, deserve to be enumer- 
ated among the principal causes, which 
kept many men, both officers and soldiers, 
at their posts, kindled anew their zeal, and 
formed among them that military esprit de 
corj)s^ that friendship of the camp, which is 
a feeling of great strength, and a fine com- 
pensating influence in so rough a profession. 

It is a privilege of great men, and often a 
corrupting one, to inspire affection and de- 
votedness, without feeling them in return. 
This vice of greatness Washington was 
exempt from. He loved his associates, his 
officers, his army. It was not merely from 
a sense of justice and duty, that he sympa- 
thized in their sufferings, and took their 
interests into his own hands with an inde- 
fatigable zeal. He regarded them with a 
.truly tender feeling, marked by compassion 



78 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

for the sufferings he had seen them endure, 
and by gratitude for the attachment which 
they had shown to him. And when, in 
1783j at the close of the war, at Frances's 
tavern, in New York, the principal officers, 
at the moment of their final separation, 
passed in silence before him, each one press- 
ing his hand as he went by, he was himself 
moved and agitated, at heart and in his 
countenance, to a degree that seemed hardly 
consistent with the firm composure of his 
spirit. 

Nevertheless, he never showed to the 
army any weakness, or any spirit of unwor- 
thy compliance. He never permitted it to 
be the first object of consideration to itself, 
and never lost an opportunity to inculcate 
upon it this truth, that subordination and 
implicit submission, not only to its country, 
but to the civil power, was its natural con- 
dition, and its first duty. 

Upon this subject, he gave itj on three 
important occasions, the most admirable 
and the most effective of lessons, that of 
example. In 1782, he rejected, " with great 
and painful surprise," ^ (these are his ex- 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. VIII. p. 300. 



OF WASHINGTON. 79 

pressions), the crown and the supreme 
power, which some discontented officers 
were offering to him. In 1783, on the eve 
of the disbanding of the troops, having been 
informed that the draft of an address was 
circulating through the army, and that a 
general meeting was about to be held to 
deliberate upon -the means of obtaining by- 
force, that which Congress, in spite of jus- 
tice, had refused to grant, he expressed, in 
the orders of the day, his strong disappro- 
bation of the measure, himself called to- 
gether another meeting, attended in person, 
recalled the officers to the consideration of 
their duty and the public good, and then 
withdrew, before any discussion took place, 
wishing to leave to the parties themselves 
the merit of retracing their steps, which 
was done promptly and generally.=^^ Finally, 
in 1784 and 1787, when the officers in their 
retirement attempted to form among them- 
selves the Society of Cincinnati, in order to 
preserve some bond of union in their dis- 
persed condition, and for the mutual aid of 
themselves and their families, as soon as 

-* Washington's Writings, Vol. YIII. pp. 392-400. 



80 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

Washington saw that the • uneasiness and 
distrust of a jealous people were awakened 
by the mere name of a military society, a 
military order, notwithstanding the personal 
inclination which he felt towards the insti- 
tution, he not only caused a change to be 
made in its statutes, but publicly declined 
being its president, and ceased to take any 
part in it.* 

By a singular coincidence, about the 
same time, Gustavus the Third, king of 
Sweden, forbade the Swedish officers who 
had served in the French army during the 
American war, to wear the order of the 
Cincinnati, " on the ground, that the insti- 
tution had a republican tendency not suited 
to his government." f 

" If we cannot convince the people that 
their fears are ill-founded, we should, at 
least, in a degree yield to them," said 
Washington, upon this subject.^ He did 
not yield, even to the people, when the 
public interest would have suffered from 
such a course ; but he had too just a sense 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. pp. 26, 127. 
t Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 56. 
t Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 35. 



OF WASHINGTON. 81 

of the relative importance of things to dis- 
play the same inflexibility, when merely 
personal interests or private feelings, how- 
ever reasonable, were in question. 

When the object of the war was ob- 
tained, when he had taken leave of his 
companions in arms, mingled Avith his af- 
fectionate regret, and the joy which he felt 
in the prospect of repose after victory, an- 
other feeling may be perceived in his mind, 
faint indeed, and perhaps even unknown to 
himself, and this was, a regret in leaving 
his military life, that noble profession to 
which he had devoted his best years with 
so much distinction. It was a highly con- 
genial employment to Washington, whose 
genius was methodical, and more firm than 
inventive ; who was just, and full of good- 
will to all men, but grave, somewhat cold, 
born for command rather than struggle; in 
action, loving order, discipline, and subor- 
dination of ranks ; and preferring the sim- 
ple and vigorous exercise of power, in a 
good cause, to the complicated intrigues 
and impassioned debates of politics. 

" The scene is at last closed 

On the eve of Christmas, I entered these 



82 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

doors an older man by nine years than 

when I left them I am 

just beginning to experience that ease and 
freedom from public cares, which, however 
desirable, takes some time to realize. It 
was not till lately I could get the better of 
•my usual custom of ruminating, as soon as 
I waked in the morning, on the business 
of the ensuing day ; and of my surprise at 
finding, after revolving many things in my 
mind, that I was no longer a public man, 
nor had any thing to do with public trans- 
actions I hope to spend the 

remainder of my days in cultivating the 
affections of good men, and in the practice 

of the domestic virtues The 

life of a husbandman, of all others, is the 
most delightful. It is honorable, it is amus- 
ing, and, with judicious management, it is 

profitable I have not only 

retired from all public employments, but I 
am retiring within myself, and shall be 
able to view the solitary walk, and tread 
the paths of private life, with a heartfelt 
satisfaction. Envious of none, I am deter- 
mined to be pleased with all; and this, my 
dear friend, being the order for my march, 



OF WASHINGTON. 83 

I will move gently down the stream of life, 
until I sleep with my fathers."^ 

Washington, in uttering such language, 
was not merely expressing a momentary 
feeling, the enjoyment of repose, after long- 
protracted toil," and of liberty, after a severe 
confinement. The tranquil and active life 
of a great landed proprietor ; those employ- 
ments, full of interest and free from anx- 
iety; that domestic authority, seldom dis- 
puted, and attended with little responsibility; 
that admirable harmony between the intel- 
hgence of man and the prolific power of 
nature; that sober and simple hospitality ; 
the high satisfaction which springs from 
consideration and good-will obtained with- 
out effort, — these were truly suited to his 
taste, and were the objects of constant pre- 
ference to his mind. He would probably 
have chosen this very life. He enjoyed it ; 
and he enjoyed, besides, all that could be 
added to it by the public gratitude and his 
glory, which were dehghtful in spite of 
their importunate claims upon him. 

Always of a serious and practical turn of 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. pp. 1, 17, 18, 21, 323. 



84 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

mind, he made improvements in the culti- 
vation of his estates, embeUished his man- 
sion-house, occupied himself with the local 
interests of Virginia, traced the outline of 
that great system of internal navigation 
from east to west, which was destined, at a 
future period, to put the United States in 
possession of one-half the new world, es- 
tabUshed schools, put his papers in order, 
carried on an extensive correspondence, 
and took great pleasure in receiving, under 
his roof, and at his table, his attached 
friends. '-It is my wish," he wrote to one 
of them, a few days after his return to 
Mount Vernon, " that the mutual friend- 
ship and esteem, which have been planted 
and fostered in the tumult of public life, 
may not wither and die in the serenity of 
retirement. We should rather amuse the 
evening- hours of life in cultivating the ten- 
der plants, and bringing them to perfection 
before they are transplanted to a happier 
clime. "=^ 

Toward^ the end of the year 17S4, M. de 
Lafayette came to Mount Vernon. Washing-, 

* Wasliington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 5. 



OF WASHINGTON. 85 

ton felt for him a truly paternal affection, the 
tenderest, perhaps, of which his life pre- 
sents any trace. Apart from the services 
rendered by him, from the personal esteem 
he inspired, and from the attractiveness of 
his character,- apart even from the enthu- 
siastic devotion which M. de Lafayette 
testified for him, this elegant and chival- 
rous young nobleman, who had escaped 
from the court of Yersailles to dedicate his 
sword and his fortune to the yeomanry'' of 
America, was singularly pleasing to the 
grave American general. It was, as it were, 
a homage paid by the nobility of the old 
world to his cause and his person; a sort of 
connecting tie between him and that French 
society, which was so brilliant, so intel- 
lectual, and so celebrated. In his modest 
elevation of mind, he was flattered as well 
as touched by it, and his thoughts rested 
with an emotion full of complacency upon 
this young friend, whose life was like that 
of none other, and who had quitted every 
thing to serve by his side. 

''In the moment of our separation," he 
wrote to him, "upon the road as I trav- 
eled, and every hour since, I have felt all 



S6 CHArwVCTER AND INFLUENCE 

that love, respect, and attachment for you, 
with which length of years, close connec- 
tion, and your merits have inspired me. I 
often asked myself, as our carriages sepa- 
rated, whether that was the last sight I 
should ever have of yon. And though I 
wished to say No, my fears answered Yes. 
I called to mind the days of my youth, and 
foimd they had long since fled to return no 
more; that I was now descending the hill 
I had been fifty-two years climbing, and 
that, though I was blest with a good con- 
stitution, I was of a short-lived family, and 
might soon expect to be entombed in the 
mansion of my fathers. These thoughts 
darkened the shades, and gave a gloom to 
the picture, and consequently to my pros- 
pect of seeing you again. Hut I will not 
repine; I have had my day."* 

Notwithstanding this sad presentiment, 
and his sincere taste for repose, his thoughts 
dwelt constantly upon the condition and 
atfairs of his country. No man can sep- 
arate himself from the place in which he 
has once held a distinguished position. 

* Wasliingtoirs Writings, Vol. IX. p. 77. 



OP WASHINGTON. 87 

''Retired as I am from the world," he 
writes in 1786, "I frankly acknowledge I 
cannot feel myself an unconcerned spec- 
tator."* The spectacle deeply affected 
and disturbed him. The Confederation 
was falling to pieces. Congress, its sole 
bond of union, was without power, not 
even daring to make use of the little that 
was intrusted to it. The moral weakness of 
men was added to the political weakness of 
institutions. The States were falling a 
prey to their hostilities, to their mutual 
distrust, to their narrow and selfish views. 
The treaties, which had sanctioned the na- 
tional independence, were executed only in 
an imperfect and a precarious manner. 
The debts contracted, both in the old and 
new world, were unpaid. The taxes des- 
tined to liquidate them never found their 
way into the public treasury. Agriculture 
was languishing ; commerce was declining ; 
anarchy was extending. In all parts of the 
country itself, whether enlightened or igno- 
rant, wliether the blame was laid on the 
government, or the want of government, 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 1S9. 



88 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

the discontent was general. In Europe, 
the reputation of the United States was ra- 
pidly sinking. It was asked if there would 
ever be any United States. England en- 
couraged this doubt, looking forward to the 
hour when she might profit by it. 

The sorrow of Washington was extreme, 
and he was agitated and humbled as if he 
had been still responsible for the course of 
events. " What, gracious God !" he wrote, 
on learning the troubles in Massachusetts, 
" is man, that there should be such incon- 
sistency and perfidiousness in his conduct? 
It was but the other day, that we were 
shedding our blood to obtain the constitu- 
tions under which we now live ; constitu- 
tions of our own choice and making; and 
now we are unsheathing the sword to over- 
turn them. The thing is so unaccountable, 
that I hardly know how to realize it, or to 
persuade myself, that I am not under the 
illusion of a dream."* " We have proba- 
bly had too good an opinion of human na- 
ture in forming our confederation. Expe- 
rience has taught us, that men will not 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 221. 



OF WASHINGTON. 89 

adopt and carry into execution measures the 
best calculated for their own good, without 
the intervention of a coercive power. "^ 
'' From the high ground we stood upon, to 
be so fallen, so lost, is really mortifying."! 
"In regretting, which I have often done 
with the keenest sorrow, the death of our 
much lamented friend, General Greene, I 
have accompanied it of late with a query, 
whether he would not have preferred such 
an exit to the scenes which, it is more than 
probable, many of his compatriots may live 
to bemoan. "J 

Nevertheless, the course of events, and 
the progress of general good sense, were also 
mingling hope with this patriotic sorrow, — 
a hope full of anxiety and uneasiness, the 
only one which the imperfection of human 
things permits elevated minds to form, but 
which is sufficient to keep up their courage. 
Throughout the whole Confederation, the 
evil was felt and a glimpse was caught of 
the remedy. The jealousies of the States, 
local interests, ancient habits, democratic 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 187. 
t Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 167. 
t Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 226. 



90 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

prejudices, were all strongly opposed to the 
sacrifices which were requisite in order to 
form a government in which the central 
power should be stronger and more promi- 
nent. Still, the spirit of order and union; 
the love of America as their country ; regret 
at seeing it decline in the esteem of man- 
kind ; the disgust created by the petty, in- 
terminable, and profitless disturbances ot 
anarchy ; the obvious nature of its evils, the 
perception of its dangers; all the just opin- 
ions and noble sentiments which filled the 
mind of Washington, were gradually ex- 
tending themselves, gathering additional 
strength, and preparing the way for a hap- 
pier future. Four years had hardly elapsed 
since the peace, which had sanctioned the 
acquisition of independence, when a national 
Convention, brought together by a general 
spontaneous feeling, assembled at Philadel- 
phia, for the purpose of reforming the federal 
government. Commencing its session the 
14th day of May, 1787, it made choice of 
Washington for its president on the same 
day. From the 14th of May to the 17th of 
September, it was occupied in forming the 
Constitution, which has governed the United 



OF WASHINGTON. 91 

States of America for fifty years ; deliberat- 
ing with closed doors, and under influences 
the most intelligent and the most pure that 
ever presided over such a work. On the 
30th of April, 1789, at the very moment 
when the Constituent Assembly was com- 
mencing its session at Paris, Washington, 
having been chosen by a unanimous vote, 
took an oath, as President of the Republic, 
to maintain and put in force the new-born 
Constitution, in the presence of the great 
functionaries and legislative bodies which 
had been created by it. 

Never did a man ascend to the highest 
dignity by a more direct path, nor in com- 
pliance with a more universal wish, nor 
with an influence wider and more welcome. 
He hesitated much. In leaving tlie com- 
mand of the army, he had openly an- 
nounced, and had sincerely promised him- 
self, that he should live in retirement, a 
stranger to public affairs. To change his 
plans, to sacrifice his tastes and his repose, 
for very uncertain success, perhaps to be 
charged with inconsistency and ambition, 
this was to him an immense effort. The 
assembling of Congress was delayed ; the 



92 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

election of Washington to tlie presidency, 
thongh known, had not been officially an- 
nounced to him. "For myself," he wrote 
to his friend, Gen Knox, " the delay may be 
compared to a reprieve ; for, in confidence I 
tell you, (with the icorld it would obtain 
httle credit,) that my movements to the 
chair of government will be accompanied 
by feelings not unlike those of a culprit, who 
is going to the place of his execution; so 
unwilling am I, in the evening of a life 
nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a 
peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, 
without that competency of political skill, 
abilities, and inclination, which are neces- 
sary to manage the helm."^ The message 
at length arrived, and he commenced his 
journey. In his Diary, he writes; "About 
ten o'clock, I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, 
to private life, and to domestic felicity; 
and, with a mind oppressed with more 
anxious and painful sensations than I have 
words to express, set out for New York, 
with the best disposition to render service 
to my country, in obedience to its call, but 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 4SS. 



OF WASHINGTON. 93 

with less hope of answering its expecta- 
tions."'^ His journey was a triumphal pro- 
cession; on the roadj and in the towns, the 
whole population came out to meet him, 
with shouts of applause and prayers in his 
behalf. He entered New York, conducted 
by a committee of Congress, in an elegantly 
decorated barge, rowed by thirteen pilots, 
representing the thirteen States, in the midst 
of an immense crowd in the harbor and 
upon the shore. His own state of feeling 
remained the same. "The display of 
boats," says he in his Diary, " which at- 
tended and joined on this occasion, some 
with vocal and others with instrumental 
music on board; the decorations of the 
ships, the roar of cannon, and the loud ac- 
clamations of the people, which rent the 
sky as I passed along the wharves, filled 
my mind with sensations as painful (con- 
templating the reverse of this scene, which 
may be the case, after all my labors to do 
good,) as they were pleasing."! 

About a century and a half before, on the 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 461. 

t Marshall's Ldfe of Washington^ Vol. V. p. 159. 



94 ClIARACTEK AND INFLUENCE 

banks of the Thames, a similar crowd and 
like outward signs of feeling had attended 
Cromwell to Westminster, when he was 
proclaimed Protector of the Commonwealth 
of England. '' What throngs ! what accla- 
mations ! " said his flatterers. Cromwell 
replied, "There would be still more, if 
they were going to hang me." 

A siugular resemblance, and also a noble 
difference between the sentiments and the 
language of a corrupted great man and a 
virtuous great man. 

Washington was, with reason, anxious 
about the task which he undertook. The 
sagacity of a sage, united to the devoted- 
ness of a hero, constitutes the highest glory 
of humanity. The nation, which he had 
conducted to independence, and which re- 
quired a government at his hands, being 
hardly yet formed, was entering upon one 
of those social changes which render the 
future so uncertain, and power so perilous. 

It is a remark often made, and generally 
assented to, that in the English colonies, 
before their separation from the mother 
country, the state of society and feeling was 
essentially republican, and that every thing 



OF WASHINGTON. 95 

was prepared for this form of government. 
But a republican form of government can 
govern, and, in point of fact, has governed 
societies essentially different; and the same 
society may undergo great changes without 
ceasing to be a republic. All the English 
colonies showed themselves^ nearly in the 
same degree, in favor of the republican con- 
stitution. At the North and at the South, 
in Virginia and the Carolinas, as well as in 
Connecticut and Massachusetts, the public 
will was the same, so far as the form of 
government was concerned. 

Still, (and the remark has been often 
made,) considered in their social organiza- 
tion, in the condition and relative position 
of their inhabitants, these colonies were 
very different. 

In the South, especially in Virginia and 
North Carolina, the soil belonged, in gen- 
eral, to large proprietors, who were sur- 
rounded by slaves or by cultivators on a 
small scale. Entails and the right of pri- 
mogeniture secured the perpetuity of fami- 
lies. There was an established and en- 
dowed church. The civil legislation of 
England, bearing strongly the impress of 



96 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

its feudal origin, had been maintained al- 
most without exception. The social state 
was aristocratic. 

In the North, especially in Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode 
Island, &c., the fugitive Puritans had 
brought with them, and planted there, strict 
democracy with religious enthusiasm. Here, 
there was no slavery; there were no large 
proprietors in the midst of an inferior popu- 
lation, no entailment of landed property ; 
there was no church, with different degrees 
of rank, and founded in the name of the 
State; no social superiority, lawfully estab- 
lished and maintained. Man was here left 
to his own efforts and to divine favor. The 
spirit of independence and equality had 
passed from the church to the state. 

Still, however, even in the northern colo- 
nies, and under the sway of Puritan princi- 
ples, other causes, not sufficiently noticed, 
qualified this character of the social state, 
and modified its development. There is a 
great, a very great difference between a 
purely religious and a purely political dem- 
ocratic spirit. However ardent, however 
impracticable the former may be, it receives 



OF WASHINGTON. 97 

in its origin, and maintains in its actioii, a 
powerful element of subordination and or- 
der, that is, reverence. In spite of their 
spiritual pride, the Puritans, every day, 
bent before a master, and submitted to him 
their thoughtSj their heart, their life ; and 
on the shores of America, when they had no 
longer to defend their liberties against hu- 
man power, when they were governing 
themselves in the presence of God, the sin- 
cerity of their faith and the strictness of 
their manners, counteracted the inclination 
of the spirit of democracy towards indi- 
vidual lawlessness and general disorder. 
Those magistrates, so watched, so constantly 
changed, had still a strong ground of sup- 
port, which rendered them firm, often even 
severe, in the exercise of authority. In the 
bosom of those families, so jealous of their 
rights, so opposed to all political display, to 
all conventional greatness, the paternal au- 
thority was strong and much respected. 
The law sanctioned rather than limited it. 
Entails and inequality in inheritance were 
forbidden ; but the father had the entire dis- 
position of his property, and divided it 
among his children according to his own 



98 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

will. In general, civil legislation was not 
controlled by political maxims, and pre- 
served the impress of ancient manners. In 
consequence of this, the democratic spirit, 
though predominant, was everywhere met 
by checks and balances. 

Besides, a circumstance of material im- 
portance, temporary, but of decisive effect, 
served to conceal its presence and retarded 
its sway. In the towns, there was no popu- 
lace; in the country, the population was 
settled around the principal planters, com- 
monly those who had received grants of the 
soil, and were invested with the local mag- 
istracies. The social principles were dem- 
ocratic, but the position of individuals was 
very little so. Instruments were wanting 
to give effect to the principles. Influence 
still dwelt with rank. And on the other 
hand, the number did not press heavily 
enough to make the greater weight in the 
balance. 

But the Revolution, hastening the pro- 
gress of events, gave to American society a 
general and rapid movement in the direc- 
tion of democracy. In those States where 
the aristocratic principle was still strong, as 



OF WASHINGTON. 99 

in Virginia, it was immediately assailed and 
subdued. Entails disappeared. The church 
lost not only its privileges, but its official 
rank m the State. The elective principle 
prevailed throughout the whole government. 
The right of suffrage was greatly extended. 
Civil legislation, without undergoing a rad- 
ical change, inclined more and more towards 
equality. 

The progress of democracy was still more 
marked in events than in laws. In the 
towns, the population increased rapidly 
and with it, the populace also. In the 
country towards the west, beyond the Alle- 
ghany mountains, by a constant and accel- 
erated movement of emigration, new States 
were growing up or preparing to be formed, 
inhabited by a scattered population, always 
in contest with the rude powers of nature 
and the ferocious passions of savages; half 
savage themselves; strangers to the forms 
and proprieties of thickly settled communi- 
ties; given up to the selfishness of their own 
separated and solitary existence, and of their 
passions; bold, proud, rude, and passionate. 
Thus, in all parts of the country, along the 
sea-board as well as in the interior of the 



100 CH.ARACTER AND INFLUEJ^CE 

continent, in the great centres of popnlation, 
and in the forests hardly yet explored, in 
the midst of commercial activity and of rural 
life, numbers, the simple individual, per- 
sonal independence, primitive equality, all 
these democratic elements were increasing, 
extending their influence, and taking, in the 
State and its institutions, the place which 
had been prepared for them, but which they 
had not previously held. 

And, in the course of ideas, the same 
mov^ement, even more rapid, hurried along 
the minds of men and the progress of opin- 
ion, far in advance of events. In the midst 
of the most civilized and wisest States, the 
most radical theories obtained not only 
favor but strength. "The property of the 
United States has been protected from the 
confiscation of Britain, by the joint exer- 
tions of all, and therefore ought to be the 
common property of all; and he that at- 
tempts opposition to this creed, is an enemy 
to equity and justice, and ought to be swept 

from the face of the earth They 

are determined to annihilate all debts, pub- 
lic and private, and have agrarian laws, 
which are easily eflected by the means of 



OF -WASHINGTON. 101 

unfunded paper money, which shall be a 
tender in all cases whatever."^^ These dis- 
organizing fancies were received in Mas- 
sachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hamp- 
shire, by a considerable portion of the peo- 
ple ; twelve or fifteen thousand men took 
up arms, in order to reduce them to prac- 
tice. And the evil appeared so serious, that 
Madison, the most intimate friend of Jeffer- 
son, a man whom the democratic party sub- 
sequently ranked among its leaders, re- 
garded American society as almost lost, and 
hardly ventured to entertain any hope.f 

Two powers act in concurrence to devel- 
ope and maintain the life of a people ; its 
civil constitution and its political organiza- 
tion, the general influences of society and 
the authorities of the State ; the latter were 
wanting to the infant American common- 
wealth, still more than the former. In this 
society, so disturbed, so slightly connected, 
the old government had disappeared, and 
the new had not yet been formed. I have 
spoken of the insignificance of Congress, 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 207. 
t Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 208. 



102 CnARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

the only bond of union between the States, 
the only central power; a power without 
rights and without strength ; signing trea- 
ties, nominating ambassadors, proclaiming 
that the public good required certain laws, 
certain taxes, and a certain army; but not 
having itself the power of making laws, or 
judges, or officers to administer them ; with- 
out taxes, with which to pay its ambassa- 
dors, officers, and judges, or troops to en- 
force the payment of taxes and cause its 
laws, judges, and officers to be respected. 
The political state was still more weak and 
more wavering than the social state. 

The Constitution was formed to remedy 
this evil, to give to the Union a government. 
It accomplished two great results. The 
central government became a real one, and 
was placed in its proper position. The 
Constitution freed it from the control of the 
States, gave it a direct action upon the citi- 
zens without the intervention of the local 
authorities, and supplied it with the instru- 
ments necessary to give effect to its will; 
with taxes, judges, officers, and soldiers. 
In its own interior organization, the central 
government was well conceived and well 



OP WASHINGTON. 103 

balanced; the duties and relations of the 
several powers were regulated with great 
good sense, and a clear understanding of 
the conditions upon which order and politi- 
cal vitality were to be had; at least for a 
republican form, and the society for which 
it was intended. 

In comparing the Constitution of the 
United States with the anarchy from which 
it sprang, we cannot too much admire the 
wisdom of its framers, and of the genera- 
tion which selected and sustained them. 
But the Constitution, though adopted and 
promulgated, was as yet a mere name. It 
supplied remedies against the evil, but the 
evil was still there. The great powers, 
which it had brought into existence, were 
confronted with the events which had pre- 
ceded it and rendered it so necessary, and 
with the parties which were formed by 
these events, and were striving to mould 
society, and the Constitution itself, accord- 
ing to their own views. 

At the first glance,, the names of these 
parties excite surprise. Federal and demo- 
cratic; between these two qualities, these 
two tendencies, there is no real and essen- 



104 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

tial diflerence. In Holland, in the seven- 
teenth century, in Switzerland even in our 
time, it was the democratic party which 
aimed at strengthening the federal union, 
the central government; it was the aristo- 
cratic party which placed itself at the head 
of the local governments, and defended their 
sovereignty. The Dutch people supported 
William of Nassau and the StadthoVdership 
against John de Witt and the leading citi- 
zens of the towns. The patricians of 
Schweitz and Uri are the most obstinate 
enemies of the federal diet and of its power. 

In the course of their struggle, the Amer- 
ican parties often received different desig- 
nations. The democratic party arrogated 
to itself the title of republican^ and bestowed 
on the other, that of monarchists and 7?io?io- 
crats. The federalists called their oppo- 
nents anti-unionists. They mutually ac- 
cused each other of tending,, the one to 
monarchy, and the other to separation ; of 
wishing to destroy, the one the republic, 
and the other the union. 

This was either a bigoted prejudice or a 
party trick. Both parties were sincerely 
friendly to a republican form of government 



OF WASHINGTON. 105 

and the union of the States. The names, 
which they gave one another for the sake 
of mutual disparagement, were still more 
false than their original denominations were 
imperfect and improperly opposed to each 
other. 

Practically, and so far as the immediate 
affairs of the country were concerned, they 
differed less, than they either said or thought, 
in their mutual hatred. But, in reaUty, 
there was a permanent and essential differ- 
ence between them in their principles and 
their tendencies. The federal party was, 
at the same time, aristocratic, favorable to 
the preponderance of the higher classes, as 
well as to the power of the central govern- 
ment. The democratic party was, also, the 
local party ; desiring at once the rale of the 
majority, and the almost entire indepen- 
dence of the State governments. Thus 
there were points of difference between 
them, respecting both social order and polit- 
ical order ; the constitution of society itself, 
as well as of its government. Thus those 
paramount and eternal questions, which 
have agitated and will continue to agitate 
the world, and which are hnked to the far 



106 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

higher problem of man's nature and destiny, 
were all involved in the American parties, 
and were all concealed under their names. 

It was in the midst of this society, so agi- 
tated and disturbed, that Washington, with- 
out ambition, without any false show, from 
a sense of duty rather than inclination, and 
rather trusting in truth than confident of 
success, undertook actually to found the 
government which a new-born constitution 
had just decreed. He rose to his high office, 
invested with an immense influence, which 
was acknowledged and received even by his 
enemies. But he himself has made the pro- 
found remark, that " influence is not gov- 
ernment."=^ 

In the struggle of the parties, all that had 
reference to the mere organization of civil 
society, occupied his attention very little. 
This involves abstruse and recondite ques- 
tions, which are clearly revealed only to 
the meditations of the philosopher, after he 
has surveyed human societies in all periods 
and under all their forms. Washington 
was little accustomed to contemplation, or 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 204. 



OF WASHINGTON. 107 

acquainted with science. In 1787, before 
going to Philadelphia, he had undertaken, 
for the purpose of getting clear views, to 
study the constitution of the principal con- 
federations, ancient and modern; and the 
abstract of this labor, found among his pa- 
pers, shows, that he had made a collection 
of facts in support of the plain dictates of 
his good sense, rather than penetrated into 
the essential nature of these complicated 
associations. 

Moreover, Washington's natural inclina- 
tion was rather to a democratic social state, 
than to any other. Of a mind just, rather 
than expansive, of a temper wise and calm; 
full of dignity, but free from all selfish and 
arrogant pretensions; coveting rather re- 
spect than power ; the impartiality of dem- 
ocratic principles, and the simplicity of 
democratic manners, far from offending or 
annoying him, suited his tastes and satis- 
fied his judgment. He did not trouble him- 
self with inquiring, like the partisans of the 
aristocratic system, whether more elabo- 
rate combinations, a division into ranks, 
privileges, and artificial barriers, were neces- 
sary to the preservation of society. He hved 



108 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

tranquilly in the midst of an equal and 
sovereign people, finding its authority to be 
lawful, and submitting to it without effort. 

But when the question was one of politi- 
cal and not social order, when the discus- 
sion turned upon the organization of the 
government, he was strongly federal, op- 
posed to local and popular pretensions, and 
the declared advocate of the unity and force 
of the central power. 

He placed himself under this standard, 
and did so in order to insure its triumph. 
But still his elevation was not the victory 
of a party, and awakened in no one either 
exultation or regret. In the eyes, not only 
of the public, but of his enemies, he was 
not included in any party, and was above 
them all; "the only man in the United 
States," said Jefferson, "who possessed the 

confidence of all ; there was 

no other one, who was considered as any 
thing more than a party leader.''^^ 

It was his constant effort to maintain this 
honorable privilege. " It is really my wish 
to have my mind and my actions, which 
are the result of reflection, as free and inde- 

* Jefferson's Memoirs, Vol. IV. p. 481. 



OF WASHINGTON. 109 

pendent as the air.=^ K it should 

be my inevitable fate to administer the gov- 
ernment, 1 will go to the chair under no 
preen gagement of any kind or nature what- 
soever.! • . • • • Should any thing tend- 
ing to give me anxiety present itself in this 
or any other publication, 1 shall never un- 
dertake the painful task of recrimination, 
nor do 1 know that I should even enter 

upon my justification.^ All else 

is but food for declamation. § 

Men's minds are as variant as their faces; 
and, where the motives of their actions are 
pure, the operation of the former is no more 
to be imputed to them as a crime, than the 
appearance of the latter. II Dif- 
ferences in political opinions are as una- 
voidable, as, to a certain point, ihey may 
perhap she necessary."1I A stranger also 
to all personal disputes, to the passions and 
prejudices of his friends as well as his ene- 
mies, the purpose of his whole policy was 
to maintain this position; and to this policy 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. p. 84. 

t Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 476. i Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 108. 

§ Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 148. 

li Ibid., Vol. IX. p. 475. 1 Ibid., Vol. X. p. 283. 



110 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

he gave its true name; he called it ''the 
just medium. "=^ 

It is much to have the wish to preserve 
a just medium; but the wish, though ac- 
companied with firmness and abiUty, is not 
always enough to secure it. Washington 
succeeded in this, as much by the natural 
turn of his mind and character, as by mak- 
ing it his peculiar aim; he was, indeed, 
really of no party, and his country, in es- 
teeming him so, did no more than pay 
homage to truth. 

A man of experience and a man of action, 
he had an admirable wisdom, and made no 
pretension to systematic theories. He took 
no side beforehand; he made no show of 
the principles that were to govern him. 
Thus, there was nothing like a logical harsh- 
ness in his conduct, no committal of self- 
love, no struggle of rival talent. When he 
obtained the victory, his success was not to 
his adversaries either a stake lost, or a 
sweeping sentence of condemnation. It was 
not on the ground of the superiority of his 
own mind, that he triumphed ; but on the 
ground of the nature of things, and of the 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 236. 



OF WASHINGTON. Ill 

. inevitable necessity that accompanied them. 
Still his success was not an event without a 
moral character, the simple result of skill, 
strength, or fortune. Uninfluenced by any 
theory, he had faith in truth, and adopted 
it as the guide of his conduct. He did not 
pursue the victory of one opinion against 
the partisans of another ; neither did he act 
from interest in the event alone, or merely 
for success. He did nothing which he did 
not think to be reasonable and just; so that 
his conduct, which had no systematic char- 
acter, that might be humbling to his adver- 
saries, had still a moral character, which 
commanded respect. 

Men had, moreover, the most thorough 
conviction of his disinterestedness; that 
great light, to which men so wilhngly trust 
their fate ; that vast power, which draws 
after it their hearts, while, at the same time, 
it gives them confidence that their interests 
will not be surrendered, either as a sacri- 
fice, or as instruments to selfishness and 
ambition. 

His first act, the formation of his cabinet, 
was the most striking proof of his impar- 
tiality. Four persons were selected by him; 



112 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

Hamilton and Knox, of the federal party; 
Jefferson and Randolph, of the democratic. 
Knox was a soldier, of integrity, of mode- 
rate abilities, and easily influenced; Ran- 
dolph, a restless spirit, of doubtful probity, 
and little good faith ; Jefferson and Hamil- 
ton were both sincere, honest, enthusiastic, 
and able, — the real heads of the two parties. 
Hamilton deserves to be ranked among 
those men, who have best understood the 
vital principles and essential conditions of 
government ; not merely of a nominal gov- 
ernment, but of a government worthy of its 
mission and of its name. In the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, there is not an 
element of order, strength, and durability, 
to the introduction and adoption of which 
he did not powerfully contribute. Perhaps 
he believed the monarchical form preferable 
to the republican. Perhaps he sometimes 
had doubts of the success of the. experiment 
attempted in his own country. Perhaps, 
also, carried away by his vivid imagination 
and the logical vehemence of his mind, he 
was sometimes exclusive in his views, and 
went too far in his inferences. But, of a 
character as lofty as his mind, he faithfully 



OF WASHINGTON. 113 

served the republic, and labored to found 
and not to weaken it. His superiority con- 
sisted in knowing, that, naturally, and by a 
law inherent in the nature of things, power 
is above, at the head of society; that gov- 
ernment should be constituted according to 
this law; and that every contrary system 
or effort brings, sooner or later, trouble and 
weakness into the society itself. His error 
consisted in adhering too closely, and with 
a somewhat arrogant obstinacy, to the pre- 
cedents of the English constitution, in at- 
tributing sometimes in these precedents the 
same authority to good and to evil, to prin- 
ciples and to the abuse of them, and in not 
attaching due importance to, and reposing 
sufficient confidence in, the variety of polit- 
ical forms and the flexibility of human so- 
ciety. There are occasions, in which politi- 
cal genius consists, in not fearing what is 
new, while what is eternal is respected. 

The democratic party, not the turbulent 
and coarse democracy of antiquity or of the 
middle ages, but the great modern democ- 
racy, never had a more faithful or more 
distinguished representative than Jefl'erson. 
A warm friend of humanity, liberty, and 



114 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

science; trusting in their goodness as well 
as their rights ; deeply touched by the in- 
justice with which the mass of mankind 
have been treated, and the sufferings they 
endure, and incessantly engaged, with an 
admirable disinterestedness, in remedying 
them or preventing their recurrence; ac- 
cepting power as a dangerous necessity, 
almost as one evil opposed to another, and 
exerting himself not merely to restrain, but 
to lower it; distrusting all display, all per- 
sonal splendor, as a tendency to usurpation ; 
of a temper open, kind, indulgent, though 
ready to take up prejudices against, and 
feel irritated with, the enemies of his party; 
of a mind bold, active, ingenious, inquiring, 
with more penetration than forecast, but 
with too much good sense to push things to 
the extreme, and capable of employing, 
against a pressing danger or evil, a pru- 
dence and firmness which would perhaps 
have prevented it, had they been adopted 
earlier or more generally. 

It was not an easy task to unite these 
two men, and make them act in concert in 
the same cabinet. The critical state of 
affairs at the first adoption of the Constitu- 



OF WASHINGTON. 115 

tion, and the impartial preponderance of 
Washington alone could accomplish it. He 
applied himself to it with consummate per- 
severance and wisdom. At heart, he felt a 
decided preference for Hamilton and his 
views. " By some," said he, "he is con- 
sidered an ambitious man, and therefore a 
dangerous one. That he is ambitious, I 
shall readily grant ; but it is of that lauda- 
ble kind, which prompts a man to excel in 
whatever he takes in hand. He is enter- 
prising, quick in his perceptions, and his 
judgment intuitively great."=^ But it was 
only in 1798, in the freedom of his retire- 
ment, that Washington 'spoke so explicitly. 
While in office, and between his two secre- 
taries, he maintained towards them a strict 
reserve, and testified the same confidence 
in them both. He believed both of them to 
be sincere and able ; both of them necessa- 
ry to the country and to himself Jefferson 
was to him, not only a connecting tie, a 
means of influence, with the popular party, 
which was not slow in becoming the oppo- 
sition ; but he made use of him in the 
internal administration of his government, 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 312. 



116 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

as a counterpoise to the tendencies, and 
especially to the language, sometimes ex- 
travagant and inconsiderate, of Hamilton 
and his friends. He had interviews and 
consultations with each of them separately, 
upon the subjects which they were to dis- 
cuss together, in order to remove or to 
lessen beforehand their differences of opin- 
ion. He knew how to turn the merit and 
the popularity of each with his own party, 
to the general good of the government, 
even to their own mutual advantage. He 
skillfully availed himself of every opportu- 
nity to employ them in a common respon- 
sibility. And when a disagreement too 
wide, and passions too impetuous, seemed 
to threaten an immediate rupture, he inter- 
posed, used exhortation and intreaty, and, 
by his personal influence, by a frank and 
touching appeal to the patriotism and right- 
mindedness of the two rivals, he at least 
postponed the breaking forth of the evil 
which he could not eradicate. 

He dealt with things with the same pru- 
dence and tact as with men ; careful of his 
personal position, starting no premature or 
superfluous question ; free from the restless 



OF WASHINGTON. 117 

desire to regulate every thing and control 
every thing ; leaving the grand bodies of 
the State, the local governments, and the 
officers of his administration, to act in their 
appropriate spheres, and never, except in a 
case of clear and practical necessity, pledg- 
ing his own opinion or responsibility. And 
this policy, so impartial, so cautious, so 
careful to embarrass neither affairs nor 
itself, was by no means the policy of an 
inactive, uncertain, ill-compounded admin- 
istration, seeking and receiving its opinions 
and direction from all quarters. On the 
contrary, there never was a government 
more determined, more active, more decided 
in its views, and more effective in its de- 
cisions. 

It had been formed against anarchy and 
to strengthen the federal union, the central 
power. It was entirely faithful to its office. 
At its very commencement, in the first 
session of the first Congress, numerous 
great questions arose; it was necessary to 
put the Constitution in vigorous , action. 
The relations of the two branches of the 
Legislature with the President ; the mode 
of communication between the President 



118 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

and the Senate in regard to treaties and the 
nomination to high offices; the organiza- 
tion of the judiciary; the creation of min- 
isterial departments ; all these points were 
discussed and regulated. A work of vast 
labor, in which the Constitution was, to 
some extent, given over a second time to 
the strife of parties. Without ostentation, 
without intrigue, without any attempt at 
encroachment, but provident and firm in 
the cause of the power which was intrusted 
to him, Washington, by his personal influ- 
ence, by an adherence openly given to sound 
principles, had a powerful influence in 
causing the work to be carried on in the 
same spirit which presided over its begin- 
ning, and to result in the dignified and firm 
organization of the government. 

His practice corresponded with his prin- 
ciples. Once fairly engaged with public 
business and parties, this man who, in the 
formation of his cabinet, showed himself so 
tolerant, enjoined and observed, in his ad- 
ministration, a strict unity of views and 
conduct. ''I shall not, whilst I have the 
honor to administer the government, bring 
a man into any office of consequence know- 



OF WASHINGTON. 119 

ingly, whose political tenets are adverse to 
the measures which the general govern- 
ment are pursuing; for this, in my opinion, 
would be a sort of political suicide."* " In 
a government as free as ours,"' he wrote to 
Gouverneur Morris, at that time residing in 
London, " where the people are at liberty, 
and will express their sentiments, (often- 
times imprudently, and, for want of infor- 
mation, sometimes unjustly,) allowances 
must be made for occasional effervescences; 
but, after the declaration which I have 
made of my political creed, you can run no 
hazard in asserting, that the executive 
branch of this government never has suf- 
fered, nor will suffer, while I preside, any 
improper conduct of its officers to escape 
with impunity, nor give its sanction to any 
disorderly proceedings of its citizens."t 

In matters, also, of mere form, and for- 
eign to the usual habits of his life, he was 
enlightened and directed by a wise tact, a 
sure instinct as to what is suitable and 
proper, a regard to which is itself one of the 
conditions of power. The ceremonials to 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 74. 
t Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 103. 



120 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

be observed towards the President became, 
after his election, a grave party question. 
Many federaUsts, passionately attached to 
the traditions and splendor of monarchy, 
exulted when at a ball they had succeeded 
in causing a sofa to be placed on an eleva- 
tion two steps above the floor of the hall, 
upon which only Washington and his wife 
could be seated.=^ Many of the democrats 
saw in these displays, and in the public 
levees of the President, the premeditated 
return of tyranny, and were indignant, 
that, receiving at a fixed hour, in his house, 
all those who presented themselves, he 
made them only a stiff* and slight bow.f 
Washington smiled at both the delight and 
the indignation, and persisted in the regu- 
lations, surely very modest, which he had 
adopted. " Were I to give indulgence to 
my incUnations, every moment that I could 
withdraw from the fatigue of. my station 
should be spent in retirement. That it is 
not. proceeds from the sense I entertain of 
the propriety of giving to every one as free 
access as consists with that respect which 

* Jefferson's Memoirs, Vol. IV. p. 487. 
t Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 99. 



OP WASHINGTON. 121 

is due to the chair of government ; and that 
respect, I conceive, is neither to be acquired 
nor preserved but by observing a just medi- 
um between much state and too great fa- 
miharity."* 

More serious embarrassments soon put 
his firmness to a more severe test. After 
the establishment of the Constitution, the 
finances formed a question of vast import- 
ance to the repubhc, perhaps the principal 
one. They were in a state of extreme con- 
fusion ; there were debts of the Union, con- 
tracted at home and abroad ; debts of indi- 
vidual States, contracted in their own 
names, but in behalf of the common cause ; 
warrants for requisitions ; contracts for 
supplies ; arrears of interest ; also other 
claims, different in their character and ori- 
gin, imperfectly known and not liquidated. 
And at the end of this chaos, there were no 
settled revenues, sufficient to meet the ex- 
penses which it imposed. 

Many persons, and, it must be acknowl- 
etiged, the democratic party in general, 
were unwilling that light should be thrown 
into this chaos by assuming all these obli- 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 100. 



122 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

gations, or even by funding them. They 
Avould have imposed upon each State its 
debts, however luiequal the burden might 
have been. They would have made dis- 
tinctions between the creditors ; classifica- 
tions founded upon the origin of their claims 
and the real amount of what they had paid 
for them. In short, all those measures were 
proposed which, under an appearance of 
scrupulous investigation and strict justice, 
were in reality nothing but evasions to 
escape from or reduce the engagements of 
the state. 

As Secretary of the Treasury, HamiUon 
proposed the opposite system ; — the funding 
and the entire payment, at the expense of 
the Union, of all the debts actually con- 
tracted for the common benefit, whether 
with foreigners or Americans, and whoever 
were the contractors or the present holders, 
and whatever was the origin of the claims; 
— the laying of taxes sufficient to secure the 
redemption of the public debt; — the forma- 
tion of a national bank, capable of aidin*g 
the government in its financial operations, 
and of sustaining its credit. 

This system was the only moral and 



OF WASHINGTON. 123 

manly one ; the only one in conformity with 
honesty and truth. It strengthened the 
Union, by uniting the States financially, as 
they were united politically. It established 
American credit, by this striking example 
of fidelity to public engagements, and by 
the guaranties which it afi'orded for their 
fulfilment. It fortified the central govern- 
ment by rallying around it the capitalists, 
and by giving it powerful means of influ- 
ence over them and through them. 

At the first movement, the opponents of 
Hamilton did not dare to make any open 
objection ; but they exerted themselves to 
lessen the authority of the principle, by 
contesting the equal fairness of the debts, 
by discussing the honesty of the creditors, 
and by exclaiming against the taxes. Par- 
tisans of local independence, they rejected, 
instead of viewing with satisfaction, the 
political consequences of a financial union, 
and demanded, in virtue of their general 
principles, that the States should be left, as 
to the past as well as for the future, to the 
various chances of their situation and their 
destiny. 

American credit seemed to them to be 



124 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

bought at too dear a price. They would 
obtain it, as necessity might require, by 
means less burdensome and more simple. 
They found fault with the theories of Ham- 
ilton respecting credit, the public debt and 
its redemption, and banks, as difficult to be 
understood and fallacious. 

But the ultimate effect of the system 
especially excited their wrath. The aris- 
tocracy of wealth is a perilous ally to pow- 
er ; for it is that which inspires the least 
esteem and the most envy. When the 
question was on the payment of the public 
debt, the federal party had on their side the 
principles of morality and honor. When 
the public debt, and the speculations found- 
ed upon it, were becoming a means of 
sudden wealth, and perhaps of unlawful 
influence, the severity of morals passed over 
to the democratic party, and integrity lent 
its support to envy. 

Hamilton sustained the contest with his 
usual energy, as pure in his motives as he 
was firm in his convictions; the head of a 
party still more than a financier; and, in 
the administration of the finances, always 
chiefly occupied with his political object, 



OF WASHINGTON. 125 

the foundation of the state, and the strength 
of its government. 

The perplexity of Washington was great. 
A stranger to financial studies, he had not, 
upon the intrinsic merit of the proposed 
questions, a personal conviction derived 
from knowledge.. He felt their justice and 
their political utility. He had confidence in 
Hamilton, in his judgment and his virtue. 
Still, as the debate was prolonged and ob- 
jections were multiplied, some of them dis- 
turbed his mind and others troubled his 
conscience ; and he asked himself with some 
embarrassment, whether all the reasons 
were indeed on the side of the government. 

I know not which is the more worthy of 
admiration, the impartiality which inspired 
these doubts, or the firmness with which, 
in the final result and after every thing had 
been well considered, he always sustained 
Hamilton and his measures. This was a 
step of great political sagacity. Though it 
might have been true, that some fallacies 
Avere mingled with the financial measures 
of the Secretary of the Treasury, and some 
abuses with their execution, a far higher 
truth predominated in them: by laying the 



126 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

foundation of the public faith,-and by close- 
ly connecting the administration of the 
finances with the policy of the State, he 
gave to the new government, from the first 
moment, t!ie consistence of an old and well- 
established authority. 

The success surpassed the proudest ex- 
pectations. Confidence appeared in men's 
minds, activity in business, and order in 
the administration. Agriculture and com- 
merce flourished ; credit rose rapidly. So- 
ciety prospered with a sense of security, 
feeUng itself free and well-governed. The 
country and the government grew strong 
together, in that admirable harmony which 
is the healthy condition of states. 

Washington beheld with his own eyes, 
upon every point of the American territory, 
this spectacle so glorious and so delightful 
to him. In three public journeys, he slowly 
traveled over the whole Union,. every where 
received with grateful and aftectionate ad- 
miration, the only recompense worthy to 
affect the heart of a public man. On his 
return, he thus wrote; ''I am much pleased, 

tliat I have taken this journey 

The country appears to be in a very im- 



OF WASHINGTON. 127 

proving state; and industry and frugality- 
are becoming much more fashionable than 
they have hitherto been. Tranquillity 
reigns among the people, with that disposi- 
tion towards the general government, which 

is likely to preserve it The 

farmer finds a ready market for his produce, 
and the merchant calculates with more cer- 
tainty on his payments Every 

day's experience of the government of the 
United States seems to confirm its estab- 
lishment, and to render it more popular. 
A ready acquiescence in the laws made 
under it shows, in a strong light, the con- 
fidence, which the people have in their rep- 
resentatives and in the upright views of 
those who administer the government."* 

And almost at the same time, as if Provi- 
dence had provided that the same testimony 
should go down to posterity from all par- 
ties, Jefferson wrote; " New elections have 
taken place for the most part, and very few 
changes made. This is one of many proofs, 
that the proceedings of the new government 

have given general satisfaction 

Our affairs are proceeding in a train of un- 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 170. 



128 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

paralleled prosperity. This arises from the 
real improvements of our government ; from 
the unbounded confidence reposed in it by 
the people, their zeal to support it, and their 
conviction, that a solid union is the best 
rock of their safety."* 

Thus, when the close of Washington's 
presidency approached, when the necessity 
of again selecting a chief magistrate for the 
nation was near at hand, a general move- 
ment was directed towards him, to entreat 
him to accept, a second time, the burden of 
office. A movement with great diversity, 
in spite of its apparent unanimity ; the 
federal party wished to retain possession of 
the power; the democratic opposition felt, 
that the time had not come for them to as- 
pire to itj and that the country could not 
dispense with the policy, nor with the man, 
they nevertheless had a distinct purpose of 
attacking. The public were fearful of see- 
ing an interruption of that order and pros- 
perity, so highly valued and so precarious. 
But, whether open or concealed, patriotic 
or selfish, sincere or hypocritical, the sen- 

* Jefferson's Memoirs, Vol. III. pp. 93, 112. 



OF WASHINGT02T. 129 

timents and opinions of all concurred to the 
same end. 

Washington alone hesitated. His calm 
and penetrating mind found in his own dis- 
interestedness .a freedom, which preserved 
him from all illusion, both as to affairs and 
as to himself. The brilliant aspect, the 
really prosperous condition, of public affairs, 
did not conceal from his eyes the imminent 
perils of his situation. From abroad, the 
intelligence of the French revolution was 
already startling America. An unavoidable 
war, commenced with ill success, against 
the Indians, was requiring considerable ef- 
forts. In the cabinet, the disagreement be- 
tween Hamilton and Jefferson grew very 
violent ; the most urgent intreaties of the 
President failed to control it; it was al- 
most officially displayed in two newspapers, 
the National Gazette and the United States 
Gazette, fierce enemies under the name of 
rivals ; the known editor of the former was 
a clerk in Jefferson's department.^^ Thus 
encouraged, the opposition press resorted to 
the most bitter violence, and Washington, 
suffered great uneasiness on account of it. 

* His name was Freneau. 
9 



130 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

He wrote to Mr. Randolph, the Attorney- 
General : "If government, and the officers 
of it, are to be the constant theme for news- 
paper abuse, and this too without con- 
descending to investigate the motives or the 
facts, it will be impossible, I conceive, for 
any man living to manage the helm or keep 
the machine together."* 

In some parts of the country, especially 
in Western Pennsylvania, one of the taxes 
imposed for making provision for the public 
debt had awakened the spirit of sedition : 
numerous meetings of the people had de- 
clared that they would not pay it; and 
Washington was compelled to declare in 
his turn, by an official proclamation, that 
he would enforce the execution of the laws. 
In Congress itself, the administration no 
longer received so constant and powerful a 
support : Hamilton was, day after day, 
the object of the most animated attacks : 
the opposition were unsuccessful in the 
motions they made against him, but his 
own plans were not always adopted. 
Finally, towards Washington himself, the 
language of the House of Representatives. 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 287. 



OF WASHINGTON. 131 

always respectful and affectionate, was no 
longer so full or so tender ; on the twenty- 
second day of February, 1793, the anniver- 
sary of his birth, a motion to adjourn the 
session for half an hour in order to go and 
pay their respects to him, after being warmly 
opposed, passed by only a majority of 
twenty-three votes. 

None of these facts, none of these symp- 
toms, escaped the vigilant sagacity of Wash- 
ington. His natural taste for private life 
and the repose of Mount Vernon returned 
with double force. His past success, far 
from inspiring confidence, made him more 
fearful for the future. Modestly, but pas- 
sionately attached to the consideration in 
which he was held, and to his glory, he 
was unwilling they should suffer the least 
abatement. The earnest wish expressed 
by all would not have been sufficient to 
determine him; his personal convictions, 
the public good, the obvious urgency of af- 
fairs, the desire or rather the duty of carry- 
ing on still further his work yet incomplete, 
were alone able to overbalance in his mind 
the dictates of prudence and inclination. 
He weighed and discussed within himself 



132 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE. 

these different motives, with a more anxious 
solicitude than seemed to be consistent with 
his nature, and ended by saying, in the pious 
weariness of his spirit, "As the all- wise 
Disposer of events has hitherto watched 
over my steps, I trust, that, in the impor- 
tant one i may- soon be called upon to take, 
he will mark the course so plainly, as that 
I cannot mistake the way."=^ 

Unanimously reelected, he resumed his 
duties with the same disinterestedness, the 
same courage, and, in spite of his success, 
with less confidence, perhaps, than the first 
time. He had a true presentiment of the 
trials which awaited him. 

There ure some events which Providence 
does not permit those who live at the time 
of their occurrence to understand ; so vast, 
so complicated, that they far surpass the 
comprehension of man, and, even when 
they are exploding, still remain for a long 
time darkly hidden in the depths, from 
which proceed those shocks, that ulti- 
mately decide the destinies of the world. 

Such was the French revolution. Who 
has measured it 7 whose judgment and 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 286. 



OF WASHINGTON. 133 

forecast have not been a thousand times 
deceived by it, whether friends or foes, ad- 
mirers or detractors ? When the spirit of 
society and the spirit of man are shaken 
and convulsed to such a degree, results are 
produced which no imagination had con- 
ceived, no forethought could grasp. 

That which experience has taught us, 
Washington caught sight of from the first 
day. At the time when the French Revo- 
lution had hardly begun, he was already 
suspending his judgment, and taking his 
position aloof from all parties and all spec- 
tators ; free from the presumption of their 
predictions, from the blindness of their hos- 
tility or their hope. " The whole business 
is so extraordinary in its commencement, 
so wonderful in its progress, and maybe so 
stupendous in its consequences, that I am 

almost lost in the contemplation 

Nobody is more anxious for the happy is- 
sue of that business, than I am : as no one 
can wish more sincerely for the prosperity 
of the French nation, than I do."^ " If it 
ends as our last accounts, to the first of 
August, [1789,] predict, that nation will be 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 89. 



134 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

the most powerful and happy in Europe ; 
but I fear, though it has gone triumphantly 
through the first paroxysm, it is not the 
last it has to encounter before matters are 
finally settled. ...... The mortifica- 
tion of the king, the intrigues of the queen, 
and the discontent of the princes and no- 
blesse, will foment divisions, if possible, in 

the National Assembly ; the 

licentiousness of the people on one hand, 
and sanguinary punishments on the other, 
will alarm the best disposed friends to the 

measure To forbear running 

from one extreme to another is no easy 
matter ; and, should this be the case, rocks 
and shelves, not visible at present, may 
wreck the vessel, and give a higher-toned 
despotism than the one which existed be- 
fore."* " It is a boundless ocean, whence 
no land is to be seen."! 

From that time, he maintained towards 
the nations and events of Europe an ex- 
treme reserve; faithful to the principles 
which had founded the independence and 
the liberties of America, animated by a 
grateful good-will towards France, and 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 40. 
t Ibid., Vol. X. p. 344. 



OF WASHINGTON. 135 

seizing with earnestness upon every occa- 
sion to manifest it, but silent and self-re- 
strained, as if under the presentiment of 
some grave responsibihty of which he should 
be obliged to sustain the weight, and not 
wishing to pledge beforehand either his 
personal opinion or the policy of his country. 
When the trying moment arrived, when 
the declaration of war between France and 
England caused the great revolutionary 
struggle to break out in Europe, the reso- 
lution of Washington was decided and 
prompt. He immediately made proclama- 
tion of the neutrality of the United States. 
" My politics are plain and simple; . . . 
. . to maintain friendly terms with, but 
be independent of, all the nations of the 
earth; to share in the broils of none; to 
fulfil our own engagements; to supply the 
wants and be carriers for them all; being 
thoroughly convinced, that it is our policy 
and interest to do so."^ " I want an 
Americati character, that the powers of 
Europe may be convinced, we act for our^- 
selves^ BXidi not for others."! "Regarding 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XT. pp. 382, 102. 
t Ibid., Vol. XI. p. 83. 



136 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

the overthrow of Europe at large as a mat- 
ter not entirely chimerical, it will be our 
prudence to cultivate a spirit of self-depend- 
ence, and to endeavor, by unanimity, vigi- 
lance, and exertion, under the blessing of 
Providence, to hold the scales of our des- 
tiny in our own hands. Standing, as it 
were, in the midst of falling empires, it 
shovdd be our aim to assume a station and 
attitude, which will preserve us from being 
overwhelmed in their ruins."* "Nothing 
short of self-respect, and that justice which 
is essential to a national character, ought to 
involve us in war ; for sure I am, if this 
country is preserved in tranquillity twenty 
years longer, it may bid defiance, in a just 
cause, to any power whatever ; such, in 
that time, will be its population, wealth, 
and resources."! 

At first, the approbation was general. 
The desire for peace, and the reluctance to 
express any opinion which might endanger 
it, were predominant in men's minds. 
Upon the principle of neutrality the cabinet 
had been unanimous. But intelligence 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p 350. 
t Ibid., Vol. XI. p. 102. 



OP WASHINGTON. 137 

from Europe was continually arriving, and 
was spreading like wild-fire through the 
country. The coalition formed against 
France assailed the guardian principles of 
America, the independence and internal 
liberty of nations. England was at its 
head, hated as a recent enemy, suspected 
as a former master. Her decrees and meas- 
ures in regard to neutral commerce and the 
impressment of sailors wounded the United 
States in their dignity and their interests. 
With the great question of neutrality, par- 
ticular questions arose, doubtful enough to 
serve as a just reason or a pretext for diver- 
sity of opinions and strong expressions of 
feeling. Upon some of them, as, for in- 
stance, on the restitution of maritime prizes 
and the mode of receiving the new minister 
expected from France, the cabinet was 
no longer unanimous. This minister, 
M. Genet, arrived; and his journey from 
Charleston to Philadelphia was a popular 
triumph. Everywhere, on his journey, 
numerous and enthusiastic democratic as- 
sociations assembled, invited him to meet 
them, and made addresses to him; the 
newspapers rapidly circulated through the 



138 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

country accounts of these rejoicings* and 
the news from France. The public feehng 
grew more and more inflamed. Of an en- 
thusiastic temperament himself, and bhndly 
borne away by tlie desire of engaging the 
United States in a war to aid his country, 
M. Genet believed himself to have the right 
and the ability to dare every thing, and to 
succeed in every thing. He issued letters 
of marque, enrolled American citizens, 
armed privateers, adjudged prizes, and 
acted as a sovereign power in this foreign 
territory, in the name of republican brother- 
hood. And when Washington, at first as- 
tonished and motionless, but soon deter- 
mined, vindicated the rights of the general 
government. Genet entered into an avowed 
contest with him, supported his own pre- 
tensions, broke out into violent abuse of 
him, encouraged the spirit of sedition, and 
even threatened to appeal to the people 
against a President who was unfaithful to 
his trust, and to the general cause of liberty. 
No head of a state was ever more re- 
served than Washington in the exercise of 
power; more cautious in making engage- 
ments and taking new steps. But, also, no 



OP AVASHINGTON. 139 

one ever maintained more firmly his de- 
clarations, his purposes, and his rights. 
He was President of the United States of 
America. He had, in their name, and by- 
virtue of their constitution, proclaimed their 
neutrality. The neutrality was to be real 
and respected as well as his power. At 
five successive meetings, he laid before his 
cabinet the whole correspondence, and all 
the documents, relating to this singular 
contest; and the cabinet decided unani- 
mously, that the recall of M. Genet should 
be immediately demanded of the French 
government. 

Genet was recalled. In the opinion of 
America, as well as in his demand upon 
France, Was?iington gained a triumph. 
The federalists indignantly rallied around 
him. The pretensions and extravagant 
conduct of Genet had alienated many per- 
sons of the democratic party. Jefferson 
had not hesitated to support the President 
against him. A favorable reaction took 
place, and the contest seemed at an end. 

But in government, as well as in war, 
there are victories which cost dear, and leave 
the danger still existing. The revolutionary 



140 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

fever, once more kindled in the United 
States, did not depart with a recalled min- 
ister. Instead of that harmony of feeling, 
that calm after the storm of passions ; in- 
stead of that course of prosperity and gen- 
eral moderation, upon which the American 
republic was lately congratulating itself, 
two parties were there in a hostile attitude, 
more widely separated, more violently irri- 
tated, than ever. The opposition no longer 
confined its attacks to the administration 
alone, to the financial measures of govern- 
ment, and to this or that doubtful applica- 
tion of legal powers. It had, concealed 
within itself, in the democratic associations, 
in the periodical press, and among the for- 
eigners who swarmed throughout the 
country, a true revolutionary faction, eager 
to overturn society and its government, in 
order to reconstruct them upon other foun- 
dations. " There exists in the United 
States," writes Washington to Lafayette, 
"a party formed by a combination of 
causes, which oppose the government in all 
its measures, and are determined, as all 
their conduct evinces, by clogging its 
wheels, indirectly to change the nature of 



OF WASHINGTON. 



141 



it, and to subvert the Constitution. To 
effect this, no means which have a ten- 
dency to accomphsh their purposes are left 
unessayed. Tiie friends of government, 
who are anxiaus to maintain its neutrahty, 
and to preserve the country in peace, and 
adopt measures to secure these objects, are 
charged by them as being monarchists, 
aristocrats, and infractors of the Constitu- 
tion, which, according to their interpreta- 
tion of it, would be a mere cipher. They 
arrogated to themselves the sole merit of 
being the friends of France, when in fact 
they had no more regard for that nation 
than for the Grand Turk, farther than their 
own views were promoted by it; denounc- 
ing those who differed in opinion, (whose 
principles are purely American, and whose 
sole view was to observe a strict neutrality,) 
as acting under British influence, and being 
directed by her counsels, or as being her 
pensioners."* "If the conduct of these 
men is viewed with indiff"erence ; if there 
are activity and misrepresentation on one 
side, and supineness on the other, their 
numbers accumulated by intriguing and 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 378. 



142 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

discontented foreigners under proscription, 
who were at war with their own govern- 
ments, and the greater part of them with 
all governments, they will increase, and 
nothing short of Omniscience can foretell 
the consequences."^ 

In the midst of this pressing danger, Jef- 
ferson, who was little inclined to engage 
any further in the contest, and who had 
announced his intention six months before, 
and had only delayed putting it in execu- 
tion at the solicitation of Washington him- 
self, peremptorily withdrew from the cabi- 
net. 

The crisis was a formidable one. A 
general agitation spread throughout the 
country. The western counties of Penn- 
sylvania resisted with violence the tax on 
distilled spirits. In Kentucky and Georgia, 
warlike insurrections, perhaps excited from 
abroad, threatened, on their own authority, 
to take forcible possession of Louisiana and 
Florida, and to engage the nation, in spite 
of itself, in a conflict with Spain. The war 
against the Indians continued, always dif- 
ficult and of doubtful issue. A new Con- 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XL p. 390. 



OF WASHINGTON. 143 

gress had just assembled, full of respect for 
Washington ; but yet the House of Repre- 
sentatives showed itself more reserved in 
its approbation of his foreign policy, and 
chose an opposition Speaker by a majority 
of ten votes. England desired to maintain 
peace with the United States; but, whether 
she had doubts of the success of Washing- 
ton in this system, or acted in obedience to 
the dictates of her general policy, or from 
an insolent spirit of contempt, she continued 
and even aggravated her measures against 
the commerce of the Americans, Avhose ir- 
ritation also increased in its turn. " It has 
not been the smallest of these embarrass- 
ments," writes Washington, "that the 
domineering spirit of Great Britain should 
revive again just at this crisis, and the out- 
rageous and insulting conduct of some of 
her officers should combine therewith to 
play into the hands of the discontented, 
and sour the minds of those who are friends 
to peace. But this, by the bye."=^ 

It was indeed " by the bye," and without 
any purpose of taking advantage of it in 
order to weaken his policy or to exalt his 

* Vrashington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 63. 



144 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

merit, that he pointed out the obstacles 
scattered along his path. As exempt from 
vanity as -from indecision, he took pains to 
surmount, but not to display them. At the 
time when the ascendency of the demo- 
cratic party seem to be assured, when the 
federalists themselves were wavering, when 
severe measures proposed in Congress 
against England were about, perhaps, to 
render war inevitable, Washington sud- 
denly announced to the Senate, by a 
message, that he had just nominated one of 
the principal leaders of the federal party, 
Mr. Jay, Envoy Extraordinary to the Court 
of London, in order to attempt to reconcile 
the differences between the two nations by 
the peaceful instrument of negotiation. 

The Senate immediately confirmed his 
choice. The indignation of the opposition 
was at its height. They desired war, and 
especially, by means of war, a change of 
policy. The simple continuance of the 
present state of affairs promised to lead to 
that result. In so excited a state of feeling, 
in the midst of the increasing irritation, a 
rumor from Europe, a new insult to the 
American flag, the slightest circumstance, 



OF WASHINGTON. 145 

might cause hostilities to break out. Wash- 
ington, by his sudden resolution, gave a 
new turn to events. The negotiations might 
be successful; they made it the duty of 
the government to await the result. If 
they failed, he remained in a position to 
make war himself, and to control it, with- 
out his policy's receiving a death-blow. 

In order to give to his negotiations the 
authority of a strong and well-established 
power, at the same time that he was baf- 
fling the hopes of his enemies as to matters 
abroad, Washington resolved to repress 
their efforts at home. The resistance of 
some counties in Pennsylvania to the tax 
on distilled spirits had become an open re- 
bellion. He announced, by a proclamation, 
his firm purpose of enforcing the execution 
of the laws; assembled the militia of Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Penn- 
sylvania itself; formed them into an army ; 
went in person to the places of rendezvous, 
with a determination to take the command 
himself if the contest became serious; and 
did not return to Philadelphia till he had 
learned, with certainty, that the insurgents 
would not venture to sustain it. They dis- 

10 



146 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

persed, in point of fact, on the approach of 
the army, a detachment of which took up 
winter quarters in the disaffected country. 

Washington, on this occasion, felt that 
stern but deep joy, sometimes granted, in 
free countries, to a virtuous man who bears 
firmly the weight of power. Everywhere, 
especially in the States which were near 
the scene of the insurrection, good citizens 
were aware of the danger, and felt their 
obligation to contribute, by their own ef- 
forts, to the support of the laws. The 
magistrates were resolute, the militia zeal- 
ous ; a strong public opinion silenced the 
hypocritical sophistries of the advocates of 
the insurrection; and Washington did his 
duty with the approbation and support of 
his country. A moderate compensation, 
indeed, for the new and bitter trials that 
awaited him. 

At about the same periodj his cabinet, 
which had shared his labors and his glory, 
withdrew from him. Hamilton, who was 
the object of a hostility always increasing, 
after having sustained the contest as long 
as the success of his plans and his honor 
required, compelled at length to think of 



OF WASHINGTON. 147 

himself and of his family, resigned. Knox 
followed his example. Thus Washington 
was surrounded by none but new men, 
who, though devoted to his course of policy, 
had much less weight of authority than 
their predecessors, when Mr. Jay returned 
from London, bringing the result of those 
negotiations, the mere announcement of 
which had excited so much indignation. 

The treaty was far from accomplishing 
all that was to be desired. It did not settle 
all the questions, nor secure all the interests 
of the United States ; but it put an end to 
the principal differences of the two nations; 
it assured the full execution, hitherto de- 
layed by Great Britain, of the agreements 
entered into with her when she had recog- 
nized the independence of the country ; it 
prepared the way for new and more favor- 
able negotiations. In short, it was peace; 
an assured peace ; one which lessened even 
those evils, which it did not remove. 
/ Washington did not hesitate. He had 
the rare courage to adhere firmly to a lead- 
ing principle, and to accept, without a 
murmur, the imperfections and inconven- 
iences which accompany success. He im- 



148 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

mediately communicated the treaty to the 
Senate, who approved it, with the exception 
of one article, in regard to which a modifi- 
cation was to be required of England. The 
question still remained in suspense. The 
opposition made their utmost efforts. Ad- 
dresses came from Boston, New York, Bal- 
timore. Georgetown, &c., expressing disap- 
probation of the treaty, and requesting the 
President not to ratify it. The populace of 
Philadelphia assembled in a riotous man- 
ner, marched through the town, carrying 
the articles of the treaty at the end of a 
pole, and formally burned them before the 
house of the British minister and consul. 
Washington, who had gone to pass some 
days at Mount Vernon, returned in haste to 
Philadelphia, and consulted his cabinet on 
the question of immediately ratifying the 
treaty, without awaiting the arrival from 
London of the modification which even the 
Senate had declared necessary. This step 
was a bold one. One member of the cabi- 
net, Randolph, made objections. Washing- 
ton went on and ratified the treaty. The 
British government agreed to the modifica- 
tion demanded, and in its turn ratified it. 



OF WASHINGTON. 149 

There still remained the duty of carrying it 
into effect, which required legislative meas- 
ures and the intervention of Congress. The 
contest was renewed in the House of Rep- 
resentatives. Several times the opposition 
gained a majority. Washington stood firm, 
in the name of the Constitution, which his 
opponents also appealed to against him. 
Finally, at the end of six months, that 
peace might not be disturbed, in the gener- 
al conviction that the President would be 
inflexible, the opposition being rather 
wearied out than overcome, the measures 
necessary for carrying the treaty into effect 
were adopted by a majority of three votes. 

Throughout the country, in public meet- 
ings and in newspapers, the fury of party 
exceeded all bounds. From all quarters, 
every day, addresses full of censure, anony- 
mous letters, invectives, calumnies, threats, 
were poured out against Washington. Even 
his integrity was scandalously assailed. 

He remained unmoved. He replied to 
the addresses ; '• My sense of the treaty has 
been manifested by its ratification. The 
principles on which my sanction was given, 
have been made public. I regret the diver- 



150 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

sity of opinion. But whatever qualities, 
manifested in a long and arduous public 
life, have acquired for me the confidence of 
my fellow-citizens, let them be assured that 
they remain unchanged; and that they will 
continue to be exerted on every occasion, 
in which the honor, the happiness, and 
welfare of our common country are imme- 
diately involved."=^ 

On the attacks of the press, he said; "I 
did not believe until lately, that it was 
within the bounds of probability, hardly 
within those of possibility, that while I was 
using my utmost exertions to establish a 
national character of our own, independent, 
as far as our obligations and justice would 
permit, of every nation of the earth ; and 
wished, by steering a steady course, to pre- 
serve this country from the horrors of a 
desolating war, I should be accused of be- 
ing the enemy of one nation, and subject to 
the influence of another ; and, to prove it, 
that every act of my administration would 
be tortured, and the grossest and most in- 
sidious misrepresentations of them be made, 
by giving one side only of a subject, and 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XII. p. 212. 



OF WASHINGTON. 151 

that, too, in such exaggerated and indecent 
terms as could scarcely be applied to a 
Nero, a notorious defaulter, or even to a 
common pickpocket. But enough of this. 
I have already gone further in the expres- 
sion of my feelings than I intended."* 

Good men, the friends of order and jus- 
tice, at length perceived that they were 
leaving their noble champion exposed, 
without defence, to unworthy attacks. In 
free countries, falsehood stalks with a bold 
front ; vain would be the attempt to force it 
to keep concealed; but it is the duty of 
truth, also, to lift up its head ; on these 
terms alone is liberty a blessing. In their 
turn, numerous and cordial congratulations, 
encouraging and grateful addresses, were 
presented to Washington. And when the 
close of his second presidency approached, 
in all parts of the Union, even those where 
the opposition seemed to prevail, a multi- 
tude of voices were raised, to entreat him to 
accept a third time the highest power 
which the suffrages of his fellow-citizens 
could confer. 

Bat his resolution was Hxed. He did 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 139. 



152 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

not permit even a discussion of the ques- 
tion. Tliat memorable Farewell Address, 
in which, as he was returning into the 
midst of the people whom he had governed, 
he dispensed to them the last teachings of 
his long-gathered wisdom, is still, after 
more than forty years, cherished by them 
as an object of remembrance, and almost of 
tenderness of feeling. 

"In offering to you, my countrymen, 
these counsels of an old and affectionate 
friend, I dare not hope they will make the 
strong and lasting impression I could wish; 
that they will control the usual current of 
the passions, or prevent our nation from 
running the course, which has hitherto 
marked the destiny of nations. But, if I 
may even flatter myself, that they may be 
productive of some partial benefit, some 
occasional good ; that they may now and 
then recur to moderate the fury of party 
spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of 
foreign intrigue, to guard against the im- 
postures of pretended patriotism; this hope 
will be a full recompense for the solicitude 
for your welfare, by which they have been 
dictated."=^ 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XII. p. 233. 



OF WASHINaTON. 153 

" Though, in reviewing the incidents of 
my administration, I am unconscious of in- 
tentional error, 1 am nevertheless too sensi- 
ble of my defects not to think it probable 
that I may. have committed many errors. 
Whatever they may be, I fervently be- 
seech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the 
evils to which they may tend. I shall also 
carry with me the hope, that my country 
will never cease to view them with indul- 
gence ; and that, after forty-five years of 
my life dedicated to its service with an up- 
right zeal, the faults of incompetent abili- 
ties will be consigned to oblivion, as myself 
must soon be to the mansions of rest. 

" Relying on its kindness in this as in 
other things, and actuated by that fervent 
love towards it, which is so natural to a 
man, who views in it the native soil of 
himself and his progenitors for several gen- 
erations ; I anticipate with pleasing expec- 
tation that retreat, in which I promise my- 
self to realize, without alloy, the sweet 
enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my 
fellow-citizens, the benign influence of 
good laws under a free government, the 
ever favorite object of my heart, and the 



154 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual 
cares, labors, and dangers." ^ 

What an incomparable example of dig- 
nity and modesty ! How perfect a model 
of that respect for the public and for one's 
self, which gives to power its moral gran- 
deur ! 

Washington did well to withdraw from 
public business. He had entered upon it 
at one of those moments, at once difficult 
and favorable, when nations, surrounded 
by perils, summon all their virtue and all 
their wisdom to surmount them. He was 
admirably suited to this position. He held 
the sentiments and opinions of his age 
without slavishness or fanaticism. The 
past, its institutions, its interests, its man- 
ners, inspired him with neither hatred nor 
regret. His thoughts and his ambition did 
not impatiently reach forward into the fu- 
ture. The society, in the midst of which 
he lived, suited his tastes and his judgment. 
He had confidence in its principles and its 
destiny ; but a confidence enlightened and 
qualified by an accurate instinctive percep- 
tion of the eternal principles of social order. 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XII. pp. 234, 235. 



OF WASHINGTON. 155 

He served it with heartiness and independ- 
ence, with that combination of faith and 
fear which is wisdom in the affairs of the 
world, as well as before God. On this ac- 
count, especially, he was qualified to govern 
it ; for democracy requires two things for 
its tranquillity and its success ; it must feel 
itself to be trusted and yet restrained, and 
must believe alike in the genuine devoted- 
ness and the moral superiority of its leaders. 
On these conditions alone can it govern 
itself while in a process of development, 
and hope to take a place among the dura- 
ble and glorious forms of human society. 
It is the honor of the American people to 
have, at this period, understood and ac- 
cepted these conditions. It is the glory of 
Washington to have been their interpreter 
and instrument. 

He did the two greatest things which, in 
politics, man can have the privilege of 
attempting. He maintained, by peace, that 
independence of his country, which he had 
acquired by war. He founded a free gov- 
ernment, in the name of the principles of 
order, and by reestablishing their sway. 

When he retired from public life, both 



156 CHAEACTER AND INFLUENCE 

tasks were accomplished, and he could en- 
joy the result. For, in such high enter- 
prises, the labor which they have cost mat- 
ters but little. The sweat of any toil is 
dried at once on the brow where God 
places such laurels. 

He retired voluntarily, and a conqueror. 
To the very last, his policy had prevailed. 
If he had wished, he could still have kept 
the direction of it. His successor was one 
of his most attached friends, one whom he 
had himself designated. 

Still the epoch was a critical one. He 
had governed successfully for eight years, 
a long period in a democratic state, and that 
in its infancy. For some time, a policy op- 
posed to his own had been gaining ground. 
American society seemed disposed to make 
a trial of new paths, more in conformity, 
perhaps, with its bias. Perhaps the hour 
had come for Washington to quit the arena. 
His successor was there overcome. Mr. 
Adams was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, 
the leader of the opposition. Since that 
time, the democratic party has governed 
the United States. 

Is this a good or an evil ? Could it be 



OF WASHINGTON. 157 

Otherwise ? Had the government continued 
in the hands of the federal party, would it 
have done better ? Was this possible? What 
have been the consequences, to the United 
States, of the triumph of the democratic 
party? Have they been carried out to the 
end, or have - they only begun ? What 
changes have the society and constitution 
of America undergone, what have they yet 
to undergo, under their influence? 

These are great questions ; difficult, if I 
mistake not, for natives to solve, and cer- 
tainly impossible for a foreigner. 

However it may be, one thing is certain; 
that which Washington did, — the founding 
of a free government, by order and peace, 
at the close of the Revolution, — no other 
policy than his could have accomplished. 
He has had this true glory ; of triumphing, 
so long as he governed ; and of rendering 
the triumph of his adversaries possible, ( 
after him, without disturbance to the state. 

More than once, perhaps, this result pre- 
sented itself to his mind, without disturbing 
his composure. " With me, a predominant 
motive has been to endeavor to gain time 
to our country to settle and mature its yet 



158 CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE 

recent institutions ; and to progress without 
interruption to that degree of strength and 
consistency, which is necessary to give it, 
humanly speaking, the command of its 
own fortunes." ^ 

Tlie people of the United States are vir- 
tually the arbiters of their own fortunes. 
Washington had aimed at that high object. 
He reached his mark. 

Who has succeeded like him 7 Who has 
seen his own success so near and so soon ? 
Who has enjoyed, to such a degree and to 
the last, the confidence and gratitude of his 
country 7 

^till, at the close of his life, in the de- 
hghtful and honorable retirement at Mount 
Yernon, which he had so longed for, this 
great man, serene as he was, was inwardly 
conscious of a slight feeling of lassitude and 
melancholy ; a feeling very natural at the 
close of a long life employed in the affairs 
of men. Power is an oppressive burden ; 
and mankind are hard to serve, when one 
is struggling virtuously against their pas- 
sions and their errors. Even success does 
not efface the sad impressions which the 

* Washington's Writings, Vol. XII. p 234. 



OF WASHINGTON. 159 

contest has given birth to ; and the ex- 
haustion, which succeeds the struggle, is 
still felt in the quiet of repose. 

The disposition of the most eminent men, 
and of the best among the most eminent, to 
keep aloof from public affairs, in a free 
democratic society, is a serious fact. Wash- 
ington, Jefferson, Madison, all ardently 
sighed for retirement. It would seem as if, 
in this form of society, the task of govern- 
ment were too severe for men who are 
capable of comprehending its extent, and 
desirous of discharging the trust in a proper 
manner. 

Still, to such men alone this task is suited, 
and ought to be intrusted. Government 
will be, always and everywhere, the great- 
est exercise of the faculties of man, and 
consequently that which requires minds of 
the highest order. It is for the honor, as 
well as for the interest, of society, that such 
minds should be drawn into the adminis- 
tration of its affairs, and retained there ; for 
no institutions, no securities, can supply 
their place. 

And, on the other hand, in men who are 
worthy of this destiny, all weariness, all 



160 CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 

sadness of spirit, however it might be per- 
mitted ill others, is a weakness. Their 
vocation is labor. Their reward is, indeed, 
the success of their efforts, but still only in 
labor. Very often they die, bent under the 
burden, before the day of recompense ar- 
rives. Washington lived to receive it. He 
deserved and enjoyed both success and re- 
pose. Of all great men, he was the most 
virtuous, and the most fortunate. In this 
world, God has no higher favors to bestow. 



THE END. 



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